Ten-man Milan battles hard for vital victory
Ten-man Milan held on to secure a 1-0 home win over Udinese thanks to an early goal from Samuel Chukwueze.
Chukwueze struck low into the corner from a Christian Pulisic assist in the 13th minute of this Serie A contest at San Siro.
But the challenge of holding on to that lead was made significantly tougher when midfielder Tijjani Reijnders was sent off.
Netherlands international Reijnders received his marching orders in the 29th minute after colliding with Sandi Lovric, who was through on goal.
Milan is third in the league standings with 14 points, equal with Inter Milan in second and two behind leader Napoli.
Udinese pushed to exploit its numerical advantage in the second half and found the net through Christian Kabasele deep into stoppage-time.
However, after a lengthy VAR check, the goal was disallowed for offside, ensuring the win for Milan.
AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca praised his team's resilience in overcoming the challenge of playing a man down for so long.
"I must say that the game had two parts. The first one until minute 30 when we received a red card," Fonseca said.
"We played 30 minutes with great personality and quality. It was close to my idea. After the red card, it was a game made of team spirit.
"We suffered, but we suffered together. If there was any doubt on whether this team was united, today we proved we are."
Fonseca believed his side deserved the win, despite Udinese having two goals disallowed, one from Kingsley Ehizibue and another from Christian Kabasele after a tight offside call.
"It would have been unfair for the team. We had the best chances and it would have been unfair not to win this game. The team deserved these three points," he said.
The former Roma boss also praised midfielder Pulisic for his effort, including an assist and his defensive work, after Reijnders got sent off.
"Christian's game was fantastic. This is the spirit that we must always have," he said.
For Udinese manager Kosta Runjaic, the defeat was a bitterly disappointing affair as his side failed to take the opportunity of its numerical advantage.
"I'm not a referee. I am the coach. It’s senseless to say anything," Runjaic said about the two disallowed goals.
"Even with a man up, it was not easy against a team that defended deep. We needed patience, good passing rhythm and circulation and a bit of luck.
"Surely I don’t like the result because it was possible to go home with a draw."
