Udinese Supporters Act Racist, AC Milan Wins Through Last Minute Goal
JAKARTA - AC Milan won an important 3-2 victory over Udinese through Noah Okafor's last minute goal in the Italian Serie A match at the Bluenergy or Friuli Stadium, Sunday, January 21, 2024 in the morning WIB. The match was stopped because of the embarrassing racism of Udinese supporters.
Milan showed a positive trend and won again in an away match. The third successive victory in domestic competition made Milan stronger in third place in the standings.
Now, Milan has 45 points. They again closed points with Juventus who are in second place. Milan is still five points away from Juve who will play an away match against Lecce, Monday, January 22, 2024 in the morning WIB.
Meanwhile, Udinese's defeat to Milan put them in danger of entering the relegation zone. Udinese are ranked 17th with 18 points. They are only one point ahead with Verona being ranked 18th or the top of the team in the relegation zone.
In that duel, Milan faced stiff resistance from Udinese who hoped to get points to stay away from the relegation zone.
The match was stopped in the 33rd minute because the host supporters acted barbaricly. They acted on racism aimed at Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
The goalkeeper had warned referee Fabio Maresca about the racism of local supporters before leaving the field. Maignan's action was followed by all Milan players who walked towards the dressing room hallway.
After stopping for 10 minutes, the match resumed. When the match was stopped, Milan was 1-0 up through Ruben Loftus-Cheek's goal. Goals were created in the 31st minute after Loftus-Cheek finished the assist from Theo Hernandez.
When the match started again, Udinese managed to equalize the score. The host's goal was scored by Lazar Samardzic midfielder before the first half ended. The 1-1 score lasted until halftime.
In the second half, Udinese tried to press the Milan defense. After many failures, their efforts finally paid off.
Striker Florian Thauvin who entered the second half brought Udinese back to life after breaking into Milan's goal in the 62nd minute
The match heated up because Milan refused to give up. Stefano Pioli's team continued to play openly to catch up with the goal deficit.
As a result, striker Luka Jovic managed to break into the Udinese goal in the 83rd minute. He took advantage of the rebound ball and the score changed to 2-2.
When the match was expected to draw, Milan made a surprise when Okafor scored from close range in injury time. The Swiss player's goal changed the score to 3-2 and lasted until the end of the match.