06 January 2015
Gigi Buffon says he is disappointed that his side were unable to make their first-half pressure tell as the Old Lady slipped to a 1-1 draw with Inter at Juventus Stadium this evening.
With five draws in their last six outings in all competitions, the Bianconeri have somewhat hit the buffers in recent weeks after a sparkling start to life under Massimiliano Allegri.
But after initially going ahead thanks to Carlos Tevez’s strike on five minutes during a spell of sustained dominance, it looked like they’d begin 2015 with a win only for Mauro Icardi’s goal to salvage a point for the 10-man Nerazzurri.
Speaking to reporters after tonight's end-to-end encounter, the 36-year-old began by analysing Inter's equaliser: “It came about in a strange manner, from my clearance towards the right-hand side of the pitch.
“We weren’t well set in defence and I wasn’t in the best position to come out. I saw the through ball and thought I’d be able to get in and close him down. It would have been harder for him had I stayed on my line.”
With their advantage at the summit of Serie A cut to only a point after Roma had won 1-0 away at Udinese earlier on in the day, Buffon seemed notably dissatisfied that his troops were unable to capitalise on their ascendancy for the first 50 minutes of tonight’s contest.
“It was the same story against Sampdoria, Torino and Napoli. We need to mature if we’re going to be where it counts, particularly in the Champions League.
“There are moments in games when we dominate proceedings, create a high number of chances but until we get that all-important second goal, it’s vital to remain on guard especially against a side like Inter.”
He concluded: “We all knew that this was another golden opportunity to extend our lead at the top. But we didn’t take it and we’re disappointed.”
