Gabbia feels Milan deserved a penalty kick against Roma

Matteo Gabbia feels Tammy Abraham touched the ball with his arm inside the box, so Milan deserved a penalty kick, but insists the Rossoneri must ‘focus’ on themselves to turn it around at the Stadio Olimpico next week.

Milan suffered a 1-0 loss against Roma at the Stadio Meazza on Thursday in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals.

The Diavoli appealed for a penalty kick in the second half when English striker Abraham appeared to touch the ball with his hand from a corner kick.

“I think it’s a bit inappropriate to talk about the referee now. We must be stronger than these things,” Gabbia told Milan TV.

“We must remain focused on ourselves, knowing that we’ll play the second half next week and will do anything to win it. We expect a tough game against a strong opponent, but a lot depends on us, if not everything. We’ll face Sassuolo first and then think about Roma to turn this around.”

The journalist asked again if referee Clement Turpin should have punished Abraham’s touch inside the box.

“It seemed pretty clear that Abraham had touched the ball with his arm, but the referee decided otherwise,” Gabbia replied.

“These things are needless, we must focus on ourselves to turn it around.”

Milan coach Stefano Pioli also noted Milan should have been given a penalty kick following Abraham’s handball but urged his players to focus on the upcoming match with Sassuolo and then the return leg against the Giallorossi next week.

The Rossoneri also protested seconds before Gianluca Mancini’s winner as they thought Romelu Lukaku was offside in the build-up.