Serie A | Milan 0-1 Udinese: Rossoneri in crisis

Milan looked confused after a change of tactics and suffered a humiliating home defeat to Udinese thanks to Roberto Pereyra’s penalty.

The Rossoneri were in crisis after defeats to PSG and Juventus, then fumbling a 2-0 lead away to Napoli. Pierre Kalulu was ruled out for four months, with Theo Hernandez, Christian Pulisic, Samuel Chukwueze, Simon Kjaer, Marco Pellegrino, Ismael Bennacer, Mattia Caldara and Marco Sportiello all injured, though Malick Thiaw returned from suspension and Ruben Loftus-Cheek was back on the bench, so switched to a 4-4-2 formation.

The Friulani were in the drop zone, without a win all season, while new coach Gabriele Cioffi saw his side crash out of the Coppa Italia midweek in extra time to Cagliari. Thomas Kristensen, Enzo Ebosse, Vivaldo Semedo, Kingsley Ehizibue, Gerard Deulofeu, Brenner and Keinan Davis didn’t make the trip.

Udinese were gifted a huge chance after 10 minutes when Zemura pulled back from the by-line and Alessandro Florenzi cleared it into a crowd of opponents, but Roberto Pereyra ballooned over the bar.

Zemura flashed another ball across the face of goal with nobody on the end of it, while Rade Krunic nodded a corner wide of the near post.

Davide Calabria surged forward to sting Marco Silvestri’s gloves from distance, as did Yunus Musah cutting in from the right.

Alessandro Florenzi managed to control the Leao pass and spin round in one movement to send himself clear on goal, but the bounce was not what he expected and he couldn’t poke in the finish.

Rade Krunic had a slight muscular issue and went off at half-time, along with Luka Jovic to scrap the 4-4-2 experiment.

Kabasele anticipated his teammate Pereyra to fire over at the back post on a corner, when the Argentine was in a much better position to score.

Moments later Tijjani Reijnders sprinted through the centre only to dink the finish wide of the open goal as Silvestri came rushing out.

Festy Ebosele ran into the box and squirmed between a crowd of defenders, his toes caught by Yacine Adli and the referee pointed to the spot. Pereyra kept his cool to send Mike Maignan the wrong way and give Udinese the lead.

It was almost 2-0, as Isaac Success was allowed a free header from a corner, it bounced off the ground and Maignan pushed it away from six yards.

Leao got away down the left only for Neuhen Perez to charge down the shot from a tight angle, but they only tested Silvestri in stoppages with a Giroud glancing header on Leao’s cross, which forced a stunning reaction save.

Florenzi also brought another save out of Silvestri with a ferocious half-volley from the D that was heading under the bar, while Leao blasted off target.

Milan 0-1 Udinese

Pereyra pen 63 (U)