The game against Udinese was a must-win for Milan, following the defeat against Fiorentina, and they succeeded even if it wasn’t easy. The red card didn’t stop them from putting in a very good display, with several positives to take from the clash.
There were quite a few changes to the starting XI with Rafael Leao, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori benched in favour of Noah Okafor, Samuel Chukwueze and Malick Thiaw. Furthermore, Theo Hernandez also wasn’t available due to suspension, with Filippo Terracciano starting.
The Rossoneri started the game well with an early goal in the 13th minute, courtesy of Chukwueze who found the bottom corner with a nice finish. Then, in the 29th minute, a controversial decision resulted in a red card for Tijjani Reijnders and Milan were forced to focus more on the defensive and preserve their lead.
Fortunately, the defence held up well and with a bit of luck – as well as two disallowed goals due to offside – Milan managed to keep the clean sheet and grab all three points. Below are five things we learned from the game…
1. Turning point for Chukwueze?
The Nigerian winger has struggled to find continuity ever since joining the Rossoneri in the summer of 2023. Furthermore, following a positive pre-season in the US this past summer, many expected a new player for this season.
At the start of this season, though, that certainly wasn’t the case. The performance against Udinese was thus a nice (as well as necessary) change, scoring the only goal of the game with a lovely driven shot and playing well overall.
Of course, after the red card, he had to work a lot defensively after the red card as the game changed completely. Nevertheless, a really positive performance and a crucial goal that might help the winger turn his fortunes around.
2. Defensive solidity helped seal the win
Excluding the two disallowed goals, Milan’s defence held up well and given the circumstances did enough to secure the win in a very tough situation. Emerson Royal played one of his best games in red and black, if not his best, as he was very energetic on the right flank and did not commit any uncaused errors.
Malick Thiaw and Strahinja Pavlovic kept the line high enough after the red card, and Fikayo Tomori’s absence wasn’t felt at all. Filippo Terracciano also did enough on the left to help his side win all three points.
3. Fofana stepping up
The Frenchman continued his positive form, having proved to be pivotal in that midfield in front of the defence. Yesterday evening, he really acted like a leader for the team and it felt like he couldn’t be dispossessed.
In the second half, he had to do a lot of defensive work because of the red card and didn’t feature much in the attacking plays, but he did a lot of dirty work to get the pressure away from his penalty box which in the end was important to help seal the result.
Hopefully, we’ll see more of his attacking work rate in the coming games as he has shown that he’s not afraid to carry the ball forward. So far, he’s truly stepping up to the expectations Milan had for him when they bought him.
4. Pulisic and Okafor shine
The American picked up the assist for Chukwueze’s goal, and he certainly had no issue playing in a more central role this time around. Following the red card, he did well when in possession to keep the ball and helped a lot defensively without the ball.
Okafor also did well and was unlucky to be subbed off at halftime because of the red card. But the Swiss international played to his strengths down that left flank as he managed to beat his man on a few occasions. Of course, he was the man behind the goal with a fantastic run.
The winger has previously struggled when given a spot in the starting XI, but this time around he showed the qualities we already knew he had. As for Pulisic, he’s just been world-class this season and there’s not much more to say.
5. Fonseca got his tactics right
The coach might have been a bit controversial with some of his comments, but despite benching some key players against Udinese, he seemingly got his choices right as Okafor and Chukwueze were crucial for the goals whilst Terracciano, Thiaw and Pavlovic also did well at the back.
The attitude shift was also seemingly visible compared to what we saw from the team against Fiorentina, which was a shameful performance to say the least.
It will now be interesting to see how the team performs in the Champions League against weaker opponents where the three points are a must, but also in the league where continuity is needed to keep up with the likes of Napoli, Juventus and Inter.
Fonseca got the tactics and the lineup right. Milan played as a team without the divas.
Even Billy Costacurta agrees:
“The player who played instead of Leao yesterday played better than Leao!”
“Costacurta spared no criticism of the Portuguese star and supported Paulo Fonseca for leaving him on the
bench:
“Physically, Leão is top 10 in the world. But what else do you have besides that?
Goals, shots. assists?
He is not even in the top 100
Worldwide!”
“In terms of leadership, is he among the top 150?
In my opinion, NO.”
Alessandro Orlando spoke to @MilanNewsit:
“I don’t like Leao. He has great qualities, but he’s so inconsistent and moody that as a coach, I wouldn’t rely on him.”
Media doesn’t babysit Leao anymore.
Well the demands for him are high because we all know that he could be so much better if he always gave his best and as already mentioned by you and Costacurta that he is physically top 10 in the world. I don’t accept all the bad excuses either as he is our best player in that sense and therefore it is to be expected that we set the bar high for him. Even more so that he did it himself as well if he want to become the best player that he can become.
I like Leao but he is also extremely frustrating as a player and as Orlando i would at least be somewhat apprehensive in regard of being too reliant on him.
Leao , is of low quality. If he didn’t have that crazy pace he wouldn’t sniff the first team.
I can see you’re one of those people who rates Reijnders and hates Leao….
That’s like rating Coca-Cola and hating Pepsi!
Except Leao has far more goals, assists, match winning performances and titles compared to Reijnders, so at least Leao has earned the right to smile.
“Except Leao has far more goals, assists, match winning performances and titles compared to Reijnders, so at least Leao has earned the right to smile.”
Different roles, different expectations. FFS.
Always the same excuses. FFS.
I dunno why you’re insisting on comparing Leao and Reijnders on a statistical base ?
Reijnders has more goals and assists than Maignan, how about that ?
Because you CLEARLY don’t understand anything about football.
So basically you’re saying since Theo has scored as many goals as Maldini, that makes him at least as good a player that Maldini ever was. And Theo can still score more which means he will be far greater defender than the club legend. Wow. You really are a special little snowflake, now aren’t you?
I can see you’re one of those people who rates Reijnders and hates Leao….
That’s like rating Coca-Cola and hating Pepsi!
Except Leao has far more goals, assists, match winning performances and titles compared to Reijnders, so at least Leao has earned the right to smile.
1. Udinese is a tomato can. We heavily rotated our squad, man down for an hour, yet we were barely bothered for most of the game.
2. I’m questioning Reijnders’ utility. I caught up with the game after he was sent off yet his absence wasn’t felt. Fofana does all the defensive job and dominates pretty well and Morata is the one who build up our attacks.
3. Fonseca managed to built a team that has another tactic than pass the ball to Leao
4. Even though they weren’t bad, we need better fullbacks, especially a Theo deputy.
5. We need a striker who can strike.
“I’m questioning Reijnders’ utility. I caught up with the game after he was sent off yet his absence wasn’t felt.”
Milan went from being dominant in the first 30 minutes to not being able to get out of their own half after the red card, or string more than 2 passes together, but Reijnders’ absence wasn’t felt.
Go watch the game before the red card, then come and comment.
Even after the red card we seemed fine, we never seemed in danger for much of the game. And had Morata and especially Abraham been a bit more clinical we might have won by a big margin. Our defending was ok and we still managed to build up some dangerous looking attacks.
But maybe I’m too harsh.
Udinese scored 2 goals that were taken away because of a hairline offside.
The way penalties are called in serie A there should have been a penalty on Pavlovic in the 2nd half.
Milan did nothing going forward after the red card and hunkered down defensively defending with all 10 players.
They went from dominating the game to being dominated but I guess Reijnders absence wasn’t felt.
If we’re gonna bring refereeing into this, Udinese dime a dozen fouls that should have been yellows or reds. Offside is offside. Milan didn’t do a lot but they backed on purpose, they weren’t “pushed”.
We did have Morata’s counter and Abraham’s horrendous shot where he hurt himself.
Don’t move the goal posts.
You said Reijnders absence wasn’t felt.
How can you say it wasn’t felt when Milan was dominating and winning the game while he was on the pitch and after the red card Milan was dominated and were lucky to not lose points or lose the game.
One counter attack in 70 minutes while the rest of the game just sit back in your own half, but supposedly a player that got a red card wasn’t missed.
That’s not being harsh but plain ignorant.
They scored 2 goals of which the 2nd one every Milan player and fan was stunned it was taken away.
If Reijnders doesn’t get a red, based on the way Milan played while there was 11v11 on the pitch, do you think it comes down to 2 lucky goals being taken away from Udinese because of an offside that you need a microscope to see, with Milan defending the rest of the game or Milan probably winning the game with couple more goals scored?
Lazio played without Romagnoli for the similar red card from the 25th minute and Juventus didn’t have a shot on goal until the 81st minute thanks to a lucky bounce and then scored on a lucky own goal. Prior to the red card Lazio was the better team on the pitch, but according to your logic Romagnoli absence also wasn’t felt, since Juventus did even less with a man advantage than Udinese vs Milan.
Doesn’t matter who the player is a red card changed both games and it was felt.
Exactly, Reijnders is really nothing special but they’re making him to be the second coming of Gullit. He’s in his prime and if that’s it from him then ok, we got ourselves a good rotational squad player with a bit of flair and elegance but that’s about it. No end product. I rate Bennacer (the healthy one) higher. Additionally to creativity, he also dictates and wins the ball.
It was a reasonable game and can never discount a hard fought 1:0 with 10 men.
Before his harsh sending off I thought Reijnders did quite well.
I think people are getting a little ahead of themselves with Fofana.
It’s all part of this insisting that new signings are unbelievably awesome.
He did ok but we lost control of midfield after the sending off and it worries me seeing him roam around the pitch including making a break down the right hand side when we’re 1:0 with 10 men and 10 mins to go.
Another new signing Pavlovic was a bit of a disaster nearly costing us two penalties and at one stage he ran so fast at any opponent player on the right wing the other player just sidestepped him and left him for dead!
The guy needs to calm down.
Of our newest signings Emerson Royal was probably our best!
Loved Morata’s energy as always but he needs to start doing more than having energy and complaining to the ref.
Meanwhile for the ‘old guard’ (that is players who have been at the club for one season….) Pulisic was pure class, great that Chuk got a goal, Okafor did really well, and Thiaw wasn’t a disaster.
Terraciano was also there. I think. But someone will need to confirm.
It’s a crucial 3 points.
Onwards and upwards.
Pavlovic was at fault for Reijnders red card as well. Or maybe whole system of play, because when a player like Reijnders who has no defensive skills at all is your last line of defence, you know you screwed it systematically.
Also, I saw Pulisic working his socks off covering for Emerson. There was one action Udinese had where Pulisic covered all the way down into our own penalty box. While Emerson was just jogging back looking lost as usual. Funny when we thought Terracciano would be our weak link and Udinese would exploit his flank, they still went for the Emerson’s flank 80% of their offensive time.
Love the energy 🔥🔥🫂
Forza Milan❤️🖤
Lol, that was Mussah. TV commentator kept mixing them up as well. And Fofana was great. Wish you could’ve seen him
Did Musah make the run?
Ok that’s both typical of the player and less of a concern.
I thought Fofana did well we are still getting overrun in midfield, an area we used to control when we had players who could actually sit.
For me i don’t have a problem playing Leo my main concern is our defense the day we stop using Tomori and start playing Gabia with Pavolic or Pavolic and Tiaw believe we will be seeing this kind of performance defensive solidity i juts love the way we defend even with a man down and i also love the team spirit see how serious and focus our Milan was it been long i saw such Tomori shouldn’t be our no1 defensive option anymore he needs to sit on the bench.
Well if you are having a hard time supporting us during the difficult moments (even with a win) I guess you could save your self a lot of stress by supporting another team 😒😒
I can’t seriously understand some fans who just think and believe that every point should go their way all because you support the team ffs the opponent are also humans with fans who also want to win and then you see Milan put up such performance and fight for the the shirt they put on and you way you of appreciating them is by using such harsh words on the players,Mennn go support Madrid then😒😒
Americans are definitely held to a different standard. I like Chuk, but can you imagine Pulisic underperforming for a year, getting one goal and the headline ” Turning point for Puli?” Ha. Never.