It wasn’t easy, but AC Milan came away with all three points against Udinese, showing ‘character and courage’. As highlighted by Andrea Longoni, the game could potentially be a reference for the rest of the season.
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Milan opened the scoring early on through Samuel Chukwueze, who found the bottom left corner, and continued to play well after that. However, in the 29th minute, Tijjani Reijnders was sent off and everything changed. It was a red card that caused great debate, but the Rossoneri simply had to carry on.
In his editorial for MilanNews, the pundit and journalist Andrea Longoni discussed the win and why it was so important for Milan. Despite being without some of the stars, and going down to ten men, the Rossoneri showed heart.
“A very important victory, a victory of the heart, a victory fought until the very last second: for this reason even more important. Milan showed character and courage, the same that Fonseca had in his lineup choices.
“In the event of a negative performance, he would have risked paying dearly: instead he won and above all got players who showed the desire to sacrifice themselves and play together with their teammates, not as soloists.
“Without looking anyone in the face and without being supported by the management: Ibrahimovic’s absence from Milanello during the entire break is simply beyond comment.
“In the course of a season, there are games that mark changes: who knows, maybe yesterday’s match could become a reference for the spirit in the locker room. Milan and Fonseca need it terribly. The team before the individual. Everyone is warned, including Leao.
There is life even without the Portuguese winger, who now will have to align himself with the level of compactness, commitment and professionalism shown by his teammates, otherwise he will be out again.
“Okafor, while he remained on the pitch, was truly precious: the very inspired Swiss was decisive for the goal and a great protagonist of the first 30 minutes, with numerical parity, in which we also saw a good game.
“Among the scattered notes, we finally found a decisive Chukwueze, the usual incredible Pulisic and a giant Fofana in the middle of the field,” he wrote.
Club Brugge are up next for Milan and it’s likely that Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao will play from the first minute again. Quite clearly, though, the Rossoneri have depth and this will be crucial moving forward.
