Fernando Torres said he was delighted with his first goal for AC Milan, although he would have preferred three points against Empoli on Tuesday night.
- Paul: Torres full debut overshadowed by poor defending
Torres netted a looping header to mark his first start for the club he has joined on a season-long loan from Chelsea -- where he scored just 20 Premier League goals in three seasons following his 50 million-pound move from Liverpool -- as the Rossoneri came from two goals down to salvage a point in Tuscany.
That goal brought Milan back into the game just before half-time, with Keisuke Honda going on to grabbing an equaliser. They could not find a winner, though, and dropped points for the second time in four days having been beaten 1-0 by Juventus on Saturday.
Disappointment was therefore the overriding emotion for Torres on his full debut.
"I'm delighted to score, but I would gladly trade it for the three points," he told the club's official website. "We leave Empoli with a sad feeling. I'm getting more and more self-confidence, but we can always do better than this."
The second game without a win, having started out with back-to-back victories, comes as a reality check to Milan, whose coach Filippo Inzaghi remains encouraged by what he has seen from his side over the first few weeks of the season.
"We've not started a season with this amount of points for years," he said. "We're working hard to become big again, but we mustn't let Juventus and Roma distract us. They are on a different level. We need to be concentrating on Fiorentina, Napoli and Inter [Milan], who are on the same level as us.
"I just regret the first half-hour of the game, but my lads are only human and I can't get mad with them because they always give it all they've got. We just paid for that half-hour."
Understandably, Empoli coach Maurizio Sarri was delighted with that opening, although he was not so pleased with the way the first half ended. Torres' goal was the least of his concerns, though.
"[Daniele] Bonera's handball was a penalty," he told Sky Sport Italia. "To me it seemed like he had all the time he needed to move his arm away from the ball, but the referee saw it differently. I told him in the tunnel that when players are wearing prestigious shirts, referees always whistle in their favour if there is any doubt."
Those comments saw Sarri remain in the dressing room for the remainder of the match with referee Gianpaolo Calvarese sending off the coach.
"It's not all the referees' faults," Sarri added. "They are put under different levels of pressure by the media depending on the size of the clubs they are officiating. They are under immense pressure. I could see that [from watching games] on the television and it's even more understandable now I am in the front row."
A penalty would have given Empoli the chance to open up a 3-1 lead, but Sarri says the best chance to do that was wasted by Francesco Tavano in the second half.
"That and conceding the goal from Torres determined the outcome of this game," he said.