Udinese 3-1 AC Milan: Rossoneri suffer Champions League blow after latest Serie A defeat

Udinese dented AC Milan's Champions League hopes at the Dacia Arena on Saturday evening in Serie A with a 3-1 win. Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his first start for the away side in over a year, and he was at the heart of first-half controversy. Ad Roberto Pereyra opened the scoring early after slack Milan defending, but minutes before the end of the half Jaka Bijol was harshly penalised for a handball to concede a penalty.

Serie AMilan held at home by Salernitana as stuttering form continues13/03/2023 AT 19:02 Ibrahimovic missed at first but it was ordered to be retaken, prompting Udinese’s manager Andre Sottil to be sent off for his protests before the veteran Swede levelled with his second attempt. That looked set to send the sides in level at the break, only for Beto to prod home to restore Udinese’s lead. Milan trail second-placed Inter Milan by two points going into the match, and third-placed Lazio by one.

A win for mid-table Udinese could have taken them as high as seventh, had they won by a huge margin, but instead they settled for eighth. In the second half, Milan started to put some pressure on a tiring Udinese, but Kingsley Ehizibue tucked away a low cross to establish a two-goal lead. Serie A table Serie A fixtures / results Serie A top scorers Talking point — Time has come for Zlatan After a year out of the starting line-up it was heartening to see the 41-year-old ready at kick-off.

Given all he has achieved over the last three decades, it is fitting that he should decide when he walks away from the sport. But that time might be soon. There are a few months left of the season for him to regain his match sharpness, and he has come back from serious injury before, but the Swede was never the fastest, and his