Milan were down to 10 men for over an hour due to the Tijjani Reijnders red card, but held on for the Samuel Chukwueze winner because Udinese had two goals disallowed over the most marginal decisions.
The Rossoneri were still reeling after the defeat to Fiorentina, where Theo Hernandez and Tammy Abraham saw penalties parried, despite Christian Pulisic being the designated taker. The left-back began a two-match ban, with Abraham and Rafael Leao dropped to the bench, moving Pulisic into a trequartista role behind Alvaro Morata. Matteo Gabbia, Davide Calabria, Ismael Bennacer, Alessandro Florenzi and Marco Sportiello were injured. The Friulani were missing Florian Thauvin, Alexis Sanchez, Thomas Kristensen and Gerard Deulofeu, but had two more points than Milan in the table.
The new attack worked together for the opening goal, as Noah Okafor surged down the left and rolled across for Christian Pulisic, who kept it moving for Samuel Chukwueze to sweep in first-time with the left foot.
Alvaro Morata’s header was straight at Maduka Okoye, but the game changed completely on the half-hour mark when Milan were reduced to 10 men. Sandi Lovric ran onto a long Jaka Bijol ball over the top and Tijjani Reijnders cut across behind him, catching his heel. It seemed unintentional, but nonetheless tripped Lovric when he was clear on goal.
Jordan Zemura’s free kick curled just wide and Kingsley Ehizibue had the ball in the net on 45 minutes with the free header at the back post, but he was millimetres offside.
Touré was fortunate not to receive a yellow card for his stamp on Chukwueze’s foot, while Ehizibue turned a free header wide at the far stick and Ekkelenkamp’s curler was over the bar following a Yunus Musah error.
Down to 10 men, Milan almost doubled their lead, but Okoye made a sensational reaction save on first Pulisic and then Abraham. In the process, the England striker stumbled and fell very awkwardly, dislocating his right shoulder and forced off the field just a few minutes after he had come on.
Jaka Bijol blasted wide from distance, but the long periods of Udinese pressure eventually paid off at the 95th minute in a chaotic move. Keinan Davis knocked it down, Maignan used his legs to parry Ekkelenkamp’s effort from six yards, then Christian Kabasele nodded the rebound over the line. However, following a long VAR review, the referee disallowed it seemingly for Ekkelenkamp’s toes being offside. VAR can rule only on objective situations, whereas offside interfering with play is a subjective one that requires the referee’s evaluation.
