AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca was delighted by the impact of second half substitutes Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze as they ensured the Rossoneri’s victory over Club Brugge on Tuesday, Soccernet.football reports.
Milan battled to a 3-1 win at San Siro to ensure their first points of the European campaign, with Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders scoring twice in the second half.
Okafor replaced Ruben Loftus-Cheek after an hour with the score tied at 1-1, while Chukwueze came on for Rafael Leao. Both players went on to provide an assist each for Reijnders as they sealed the victory.
At the time of Fonseca’s substitutions, Milan were struggling against a 10-man Club Brugge, who had lost midfielder Raphael Onyedika to a first-half red card.
“The credit goes to the players and mainly to those who came on,” Fonseca said as reported by SuperSports.
“They changed the match, changing our game, the intensity.
“Obviously, in the first half, we didn’t do things well. We were up against a team with 11 players that was very deep, then with numerical inferiority, they became even deeper.
“We had difficulties in this type of game, in creating and provoking space.
“Then, when we don’t find the right solution, the game starts to be too slow. When we don’t find space, we need to have a different intensity in our actions. We didn’t do well… I think it was a problem of understanding the game.”
16-year-old Francesco Camarda was handed his Champions League debut in the final 15 minutes of the game. The teenager found the back of the net but saw his goal ruled out for offside.
“I’m very sorry for the disallowed goal,” said Fonseca. “But it was a beautiful moment for the team, all on the pitch celebrating a child who works so hard.
“Camarda will have many opportunities to score more goals during his career.”