Serie A | Milan 0-3 Udinese: Disastrous tactical experiment fails
Milan were humiliated 3-0 at home by a clinical Udinese, as the change to the 4-3-3 formation failed to pay off and now even third place is at serious risk.
The Rossoneri were ruled out of the Scudetto race by defeat to Napoli, so needed to look anxiously over their shoulders instead. Max Allegri revamped his tactics from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3 with Rafael Leao returning as a centre-forward, Samuele Ricci and Zachary Athekame stepping in. Kienan Davis returned from suspension for Udinese, but Adam Buksa, Jordan Zemura and Alessandro Zanoli were all carrying injuries.
See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.
Nicolò Zaniolo tested Mike Maignan on the counter-attack in the third minute, while Christian Pulisic went on a slalom through defenders until his finish was charged down, then Rafael Leao fired just over when sent through by Alexis Saelemaekers.
Leao was booked for sarcastically applauding the referee after he went down in a tussle with his marker and the foul went against him for flailing an arm.
It was Udinese who opened the scoring when Zaniolo went on a rapid counter-attack, shrugging off attempted Saelemaekers and Strahinja Pavlovic tackles, spreading it down the right for Arthur Atta, whose cross took a big deflection off Davide Bartesaghi to wrong-foot Maignan.
There was a lack of communication when Pulisic floated a ball to the back post for Saelemaekers, but Leao went for the acrobatic volley instead and ruined the chance for his teammate.
Moments later, Pulisic dribbled into the box only to drill inches wide, but Udinese nearly had a second when Davis shrugged off Pavlovic only for Maignan to palm the strike onto the crossbar from a tricky angle down the left.
The Friulani did double their lead when Zaniolo whipped in a wonderful cross from the right that found Jurgen Ekkelenkamp to nod in at the back post between two Milan defenders.
It really should’ve been 3-0 in first half stoppages when Leao lost it cheaply to spark the counter-attack, Kamara rolled across from the left for Davis, denied by a desperate Pavlovic tackle, then Davis accidentally deflected the Thomas Kristensen follow-up from seven yards, so Bartesaghi could clear off the line.
Milan were jeered off the pitch by their fans and Allegri made a radical change, introducing Niclas Fullkrug for Athekame, moving Saelemaekers to right-back.
They poured forward, as first Maduka Okoye got down to push a Luka Modric daisy-cutter round the post, then on the resulting corner he flew to palm the Saelemaekers half-volley onto the underside of the crossbar.
Fullkrug’s header was off target and Pavlovic’s diving header only hit the side-netting from a Ricci cross, while Adrien Rabiot needed a crucial sliding tackle to prevent Zaniolo finishing off an Atta assist.
Youssouf Fofana came on and fired straight at Okoye, but it was Udinese who proved far more clinical on another counter, as Atta drilled low into the near bottom corner for 3-0, surprising Koni De Winter.
Maignan had to make a save moments later to deny the Davis left-foot strike, but the Udinese striker sustained a muscular injury and looked distraught as he limped off.
Leao was jeered loudly off the pitch as he was substituted late on, as the crowd was increasingly irritated with his performance, but Udinese love playing at San Siro, having already beaten Inter here this season.
Milan 0-3 Udinese
Bartesaghi og 27 (U), Ekkelenkamp 37 (U), Atta 71 (U)
Player statistic
| Rafael Leão | 16' | |||
| 27' | Davide Bartesaghi | |||
| 37' | Jurgen Ekkelenkamp (Assist: Nicolò Zaniolo) |
| 46' | Thomas Kristensen | |||
| 71' | Arthur Atta (Assist: Jurgen Ekkelenkamp) |