BACK WITH A WIN: UDINESE BEATEN 1‑0
Serie A
Heart-in-mouth stuff for over 70 minutes, the bated breath and then the roar. San Siro exploded at full-time of the Rossoneri's hard-fought 1-0 victory over Udinese, into which the players put every ounce of effort. Chukwueze scored the winner in the 13th minute, his first goal at home in the league. It was a big moment for him and a deserved one too. Afterwards, the hosts spent more of the 90 minutes with a man down after a straight red card was shown to Reijnders in the 29th minute. The hosts had two goals ruled out, both for offside: Ehizibue in the 44th minute and Kabasele in the 95th. The latter, in particular, totally silenced the stadium as everyone inside waited for the result of the VAR review. The fear of seeing a deserved win nearly slip through our fingers turned into sheer joy in the driving rain in Milan.
The team deserved a smoother ride following a courageous opening 30 minutes. The rest of the match required dedication, sacrifice and heart. The Rossoneri did well to dig deep as seen as Tijjani was sent; perhaps a few more crosses then they would've liked came into the penalty area but, in general, they defended stoutly all over the pitch. The result, alongside a couple of slices of good fortune given the two disallowed goals, is a just reward for the group. Once the adrenaline from tonight has subsided, the Rossoneri will need to focus on their upcoming Champions League game at home to Club Brugge; the Rossoneri need a win to pick themselves up in European competition.
CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM AC MILAN v UDINESE
MATCH REPORT
The Rossoneri fielded a 4-2-3-1 which shifted to a 4-3-3 in defence as Pulisic took up alongside the midfielders. The squad had a positive and attacking approach to the game which saw Okoye forced into action by Okafor and Reijnders threats. The opener came in the 13th minute and started with some good initiative from Noah who picked out Pulisic in the box, assist for Chukwueze who didn’t hesitate to roll the ball into the bottom corner to secure the lead. The goal topped off a good moment and other chances came: in the 18th minute, Okafor put in a silky cross for Morata whose header was saved by Okoye. In the 20th minute, a dangerous shot from an out-of-the-way Reijnders went just high. The defining moment of the game came in the 29th minute with Reijnders making contact on Lovrić, sending him goalwards: for Chiffi, this merits a straight red card and so, we were down to ten men. The pace of the game changed as we were forced to play more defensively than in the first half an hour: in the 44th minute, Ehizibue headed the ball in for the Friuliani but the equaliser was ruled out for offside. One-nil up at the break.
The second half started with a swap to bolster the midfield: Musah on for a solid Okafor. In the opening minutes, the Rossoneri sat deep as they gave Udinese some space without conceding any real chances. Rather, AC Milan managed to create panic in the Udinese box: in the 75th minute, Pulisic span and forced Okoye into a save, fresh legs Tammy Abraham had a go on the rebound but only managed to sustain an injury, forced to leave the pitch. Loftus-Cheek replaced him and went close to a goal in the 82nd minute, sent out for a corner by Okoye after doing well to get back. The squad ran, defended and made the sacrifices needed: Tomori came on in the final minutes and we shifted to five at the back. In injury time, Udinese managed to score with a Kabasele header but after a long pause and VAR check, Chiffi ruled it out for another offside. San Siro exploded with joy: it ended 1-0, we win!
MATCH DETAILS
AC MILAN 1-0 UDINESE
AC MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan; E. Royal, Thiaw, Pavlović, Terracciano; Fofana, Reijnders; Chukwueze (88' Tomori), Pulisic, Okafor (46' Musah); Morata (72' Abraham) (78' Loftus-Cheek). Subs.: Sportiello, Torriani; Bartesaghi, Jiménez; Leão, Liberali. Coach: Fonseca.
UDINESE (3-5-2): Okoye; Kabasele, Bijol, Touré; Ehizibue (60' Kamara), Lovrić (69' Payero), Karlström (81' Brenner), Zarraga (69' Ekkelenkamp), Zemura; Bravo (60' Davis), Lucca. Subs.: Padelli, Sava; Abankwah, Ebosse, Giannetti, Palma; Rui Modesto; Pizarro. Coach: Runjaić.
Referee: Chiffi from Padova.
Goals: 13' Chukwueze (M).
Booked: 43' Bijol (U), 48' Terracciano (M), 82' Lucca (U), 89' Maignan (M), 89' Kamara (U).
Sent off: 29' Reijnders (M).
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