AC Milan celebrated a late victory in Udine. An uninspired Rossoneri first gave away a lead – but then two jokers turned the game around in the closing stages. Racist insults against Maignan were the negative highlight
Chasing their fourth win in a row, Milan had to play the real draw kings. Twelve of the 20 league games involving Udinese Calcio this season have already ended in a draw – and coach Gabriele Cioffi’s side held their own against the Rossoneri.
Despite having plenty of possession, it took the visitors just over a quarter of an hour to create their first chance. However, Giroud’s shot from an acute angle was well saved by Okoye, who had trained in Gladbach, Leverkusen and Düsseldorf. An unchanged Milan side compared to the 3:1 against Roma were now more compelling, Giroud did not get a Theo pass right (18th) and Okoye defused Adli’s free-kick with a flying save (27th).
Theo sets up Loftus-Cheek – match interrupted due to racist remarks
The 24-year-old was beaten shortly afterwards. After a quick attack down the left, Loftus-Cheek deflected Theo’s cross towards goal and Thiesson Kristensen’s shot was saved (31′).
After a tough opening period, a soccer match now seemed to be developing – but this was only followed by the negative highlight of the game. It was interrupted for around six minutes. Racist remarks were made towards Milan keeper Maignan from the stands behind him
Samardzic uses his seat
In the meantime, the visitors were already on their way to the dressing room, but then returned to the pitch. Samardzic struck straight after the restart for Udine, who had previously stood out more for their compact defending than their attacking play. The former Hertha and Leipzig player sent Kjaer to the ground and smashed the ball into the left corner from around 20 meters (42′).
Milan again started the second half with plenty of possession – but once again with very little going forward. Giroud’s header was only an easy catch (59′).
Thauvin takes advantage of a defensive error
Udine took a wait-and-see approach, but then became more active after an hour – and had a good chance through Payero, who came on as a substitute for Samardzic (62′). However, Milan’s defense was unable to clear the ball – quite the opposite: Thauvin had actually already lost the ball to Reijnders. However, the Dutchman was unable to secure the ball with Theo, allowing Thauvin to regain possession and fire it over Maignan and into the net (62′).
Jovic and Okafor save Milan
When trailing, the Rossoneri found it even more difficult against the still extremely compact hosts. Despite continuing to have a lot of possession, the visitors’ attacking attempts were mostly uninspired – and yet they still managed to score twice. Substitute Jovic headed a Giroud shot that rebounded off the crossbar onto the line over the line (83′).
When everything looked set for a 13th Udine draw, the visitors’ joker stung. After a corner, Okafor was in the right place and fired in a late winner to make it 3:2 (90.+3).