De Ketelaere: ‘It was never a foul’ on Theo Hernandez | OneFootball

Charles De Ketelaere shrugs off Paulo Fonseca’s complaints and tries to explain what made him such a different player since moving to Atalanta from Milan. ‘It’s not just one thing.’

The Belgium international opened the scoring in tonight’s 2-1 victory over his former club, rising to nod in a Marten de Roon free kick, before Alvaro Morata’s equaliser and the late Ademola Lookman winner.

However, Milan coach Fonseca was furious in all his post-match interviews, insisting De Ketelaere had ‘clearly’ fouled Theo Hernandez during his leap.

“I saw that they protested, but I jumped much higher and it is only natural to put your hands there when jumping like that. In my view, that is never a foul,” De Ketelaere told Sky Sport Italia.

De Ketelaere a different man with Atalanta

epa11761060 Atalanta’s Charles de Ketelaere (C) scores the 1-0 goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Atalanta BC and AC Milan, in Bergamo, Italy, 06 December 2024. EPA-EFE/MICHELE MARAVIGLIA

Considering he had failed to score a single goal in 40 competitive appearances for Milan, finding the net against his former club must be particularly pleasing.

“I was happy to score and to get the victory. We are feeling confident, we feel that we can win every game and you can see that in our performance. It is why we managed to beat a Milan side that in my view is very strong.”

De Ketelaere is such a transformed figure from the one we saw in that one season with the Rossoneri jersey, so what changed?

“It’s not just one thing. I think the most important is that I had already played in Italy for a year, so I had that experience, but also the way of playing allows me to make more of an impact.”

He is very versatile with Atalanta under Gian Piero Gasperini, as this evening he was used as a centre-forward, whereas at other times he can play in support of Mateo Retegui.

“Our tactics depend also on the characteristics of the opponents we are facing. Today I was up against Malick Thiaw, so I was able to go wide and find the extra spaces there.”