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'Morata miss made me very angry' – Pirlo vents frustration after Juventus are held by Atalanta
Cristiano Ronaldo had a penalty saved, but his boss was more frustrated by the Spanish striker's early error
Andrea Pirlo admitted Alvaro Morata's glaring miss in Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Atalanta made him "very angry" but the Juventus boss praised the forward for an otherwise "great game".
Juve were denied a fifth consecutive win in all competitions when Remo Freuler cancelled out Federico Chiesa's opener at the Allianz Stadium.
Cristiano Ronaldo squandered a golden opportunity to seal all three points for the champions, though, missing from the spot after Chiesa had been tripped in the area – his fourth failure from 30 penalties in all competitions for Juve.
While Pirlo was relaxed about the Portuguese superstar's miss, he could not hide his frustration at Morata's indiscretion early in the first half.
The Spain international, who has scored nine goals in all competitions this season, inexplicably scuffed a backheeled effort wide with the goal at his mercy after initially playing a poor pass to Ronaldo when he had been clean through.
On Ronaldo's miss, he told a media conference: "It's a pity because it would have helped us to go ahead, but these things can happen.
"Morata's miss made me very angry, it's something we cannot afford. These opportunities can channel the game in a certain way. One must have the lucidity to make the right choice and he didn't. Aside from that he played a great game. It happens that goals are not scored sometimes."
Juve came up against a goalkeeper in inspired form, Pierluigi Gollini saving Ronaldo's spot-kick and making excellent stops to deny Morata and Weston McKennie.
The result means they have drawn six of their first 12 league games of the season for the first time since 1984-85, when they finished in sixth.
Pirlo was pleased with his side's attitude, but said they need to show more conviction if they are to start turning draws into wins.
"We played an excellent match against a strong team, with great pace," he added.
"However, we would have won if we had shown more conviction. We created a lot, but we have not been able to close it out and when we leave the game in the balance, anything can happen - but we took the field with the right attitude. It was an important game in terms of intensity. Atalanta is difficult to face and we did it well."
The Bianconeri will hope to return to winning ways when they visit Parma on Saturday.
