Zlatan Ibrahimovic became the oldest player to score a goal in Serie A history, but that was not enough to avoid Milan losing 3-1 at Udinese, in a blow to the defending champions’ hopes of ending the season inside the golden square.
Milan wasted the opportunity to rise to second place and remained in fourth place with 48 points, one point behind Roma, fifth in the standings facing Lazio at the summit of the capital on Sunday..
Milan coach Stefano Pioli told Sky Sport Italia, “The performance was negative, and when playing in this way and without ferocity, clubness, accuracy or focus, this means that the coach failed to prepare for the match. We were far below our level of capabilities this evening.”“.
He added, “It is clear that we will not retain the league title, but we can excel in a mini-tournament between the teams trying to qualify for the Champions League. We want that and we can improve this season.”“.
The course of the match
- Udinese took the lead after nine minutes when Lazar Samardzic snatched a wrong pass from Ismail Bennacer in the middle of the field and advanced into the penalty area, with Roberto Pereira completing the attack into the net..
- Milan needed 20 minutes to enter the atmosphere after the host team played fiercely from the start and created many opportunities to double the score..
- But it was Milan who scored the next goal, which came in confusion.
- Ibrahimovic missed a penalty kick for Milan after a handball late in the first half, then ordered the referee to return the kick due to a violation, despite completing the game with a minute already..
- Udinese coach Andrea Sutil was sent off and the referee was verbally attacked after the decision.
- The Swedish striker, who started a match for the first time since January 2022, did not fail the second time and scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time, becoming the oldest player to score in the competition, at 41 years and 166 days..
- He broke Alessandro Costacurta’s previous record in 2007 by 141 days, as Costacurta scored his last goal from a penalty kick for Milan during another defeat by Udinese..
- But the celebrations were short-lived as Beto put Udinese back in front two minutes later when he turned in Issac Success’s cross from close range..
- Udinese confirmed the victory with an unmarked Kingsley Ezebue goal in the 70th minute.
With this victory, Udinese preserved its chances of qualifying for a European competition next season, as it rose to eighth place, seven points behind Atlanta, sixth in the standings..