A third win in succession this season for AC Milan- in all competitions – catapulted them to eighth place in the Serie A table, but it was not an easy ride for Stefano Pioli’s men.
Going behind to an early goal, then fighting back to get in front, before Kevin Lasagna looked to have broken Rossoneri hearts. However, Ante Rebic was the hero for Milan and his last gasp winner sent the Stadio San Siro wild.
After the game the Croatian said he hoped things will change, for himself at Milan, but there was also an inkling he meant the club as well given the season has been nothing short of a disaster for one of Europe’s great clubs.
Now, Milan find themselves two points away from the Europa League spots, and with a very winnable Coppa Italia quarter-final against Torino coming up. Things might just turn out alright for the Rossoneri this season.
Mistakes a-plenty
That said, Milan were guilty of making a number of horrendous errors over the course of their 90 minutes with Udinese.
First came Gianluigi Donnarumma’s seventh minute walkabout. In trying to cover Theo Hernandez, the goalkeeper ended up way out of position before fouling Kevin Lasagna, and as the assistant referee waved his flag to indicate a foul on the Udinese frontman, Jens Stryger Larsen fired home to give the Zebrette the lead.
It seemed as if it was going to be another afternoon like it has been so many times for Milan this season, in which individual errors proved costly. Theo, for all his attacking prowess – which we will come to later – was caught out again for the cross which turned into the equaliser.
On the other flank, Andrea Conti in partnership with Simon Kjaer struggled against the physicality of Stefano Okaka, and that in turn freed up Lasagna, who should have scored a couple of times before he actually did.
Sloppy passing, players being out of position and rash decision making were the order of the day, but Rebic made sure that was all forgotten.
Gone but not forgotten
Before Sunday, Rebic has only played 177 minutes of Serie A football for Milan this season, across eight matches. And it looked like he was going to be on his way back to Germany before the January transfer window closed.
Now it seems, after a solid performance in the Coppa Italia over SPAL his first Serie A goals since November 2015, when playing for Fiorentina, 1540 days ago, his future could well be at the San Siro.
Rebic also became the first Milan player to score a Serie A brace as a substitute since Giampaolo Pazzini against Catania in April 2014.
And at 2 minutes, 12 seconds he scored the fastest Serie A goal as a substitute for Milan since May 2016 when Luca Antonelli did so, 46 seconds after coming on against Frosinone.
Top scorer Theo
Theo is fast becoming a legend for the Rossoneri. He is the club’s top scorer this season with five in Serie A and his thursting attacking runs cause plenty of problems for the opposition.
His goal against Udinese was nothing short of sublime and it lifted the growing cloud which was slowly enveloping the San Siro and Stefano Pioli said he could become one of the best left-backs in the world should be continue as he is doing.
But with the good, there is always some bad. And that bad is a direct result of his attacking mindset. Playing almost as a left winger, Theo leaves a ton of space in behind, which no one seems to like covering. That resulted in the first goal.
And defensively he is suspect, being drawn out from the back which allowed Larsen to float in the ball to Lasagna for the second.
Thank you Donnarumma
As mentioned, Milan’s young goalkeeper was the culprit for the opening goal, but to his credit he made about four or five key saves to keep his side in the match.
Rolando Mandragora, Okaka, Lasagna on a number of occasions were all denied by the goalkeeper.
