Milan visited Udinese this Saturday, at the Dacia Arena, for the 27th round of the Italian Championship. The match marked the return of Ibrahimovic to the starting lineup after the injury to the cruciate ligament in his left knee that took him out of action for nine months, but not even the presence of the Swedish striker was able to avoid the Milan defeat by 3-1.
Ibrahimovic, from the penalty spot, scored Milan’s only goal in the game. Incidentally, the Swede became the oldest player to swing the nets in the Italian Championship, with 41 years and 166 days. Roberto Pereyra, Beto and Ehizibue were responsible for Udinese’s victory, which reached 38 points with the victory, taking eighth place. The Rossoneri team, in turn, remains in fourth place, with 48 goals, but could be beaten by Roma, who have the derby against Lazio this Sunday.
Milan will now have to hope for a stumbling block by Roma in the Derby della Capitale in order not to leave the qualification zone for the Champions League.
The game
Udinese needed nine minutes to open the scoring at the Dacia Arena. After an error in the ball output, Zamardzic made the interception and started the counterattack, making individual play and seeing Roberto Pereyra with the leftover, hitting the corner, with no chances for Maignan.
Milan, however, managed to equalize shortly before half-time, in the 44th minute, after the referee awarded a penalty after a hand touch by the Udinese player. Ibrahimovic went for the kick, but saw the opposing goalkeeper make the save. Luckily, after reviewing the VAR, the Swede had to beat a new penalty for invasion of the area. This time, he preferred to drop a bomb, with no chance for Silvestri.
But, in stoppage time, Udinese took the lead on the scoreboard. Success reached the bottom line on the left and crossed low for Beto with a first-time finish and filling the net, which made the Milan players go to the locker room a little frustrated.
In the second half, Milan even tried to chase the loss, but Udinese remained firm in the game to not only curb the rivals’ momentum, but also extend their advantage on the scoreboard, which happened in the 25th minute, when Ehizibue appeared in the second post to complete Udogie’s Cross Kick.
In the final minutes, Milan still tried to go all out on top of Udinese in search of a draw, but it really was the day for the hosts, who did not give spaces to the opponents and, with the support of their fans, who packed Dacia Arena, managed to leave the field with the important 3-1 victory.
Check out the result of Saturday’s other games for the Italian Championship:
Monza 1 x 1 Cremonese
Salernitana 2 x 2 Bologna
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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