Udinese wronged by penalty decision: Allegri

Mario Balotelli of AC Milan celebrates with his team-mate Stephan El Shaarawy after scoring during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Udinese Calcio at San Siro Stadium on February 3, 2013 in Milan, Italy.

Milan, Feb 4 (IANS) AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri has admitted that Udinese were hard done by as they lost to his side 1-2 due to a dubious penalty in their Italian Serie A clash.

AC Milan secured the win on Sunday with the last kick of the game with a spot-kick after Thomas Heurtaux appeared to get the ball in a tackle on Stephan El Shaarawy, reports Xinhua.

“We were lucky when it came to the referee’s decision. I am pretty honest when it comes to evaluating incidents and I will say that the Udinese player gets the ball. It’s certainly not a penalty that you can give,” said Allegri.

“It is a shame, as Udinese played well and so had we. The team played an excellent first half and Udinese were non-existent during that period, while in the second we were lazy and paid the price.

“We are young and must improve, because we can’t keep risking dropped points after dominating like this. In the second half we lowered the tempo and had too many individual moves. After the equaliser we started playing again, but we shouldn’t get ourselves into these situations,” he said.

He also praised Mario Balotelli who scored two goals on his AC Milan debut.

“He played very well and has some exceptional qualities, but then we all knew that. I was also fortunate, as he wasn’t meant to start. He has to improve, seeing as he is only 22,” Allegri said.