Milan accidentally broke a rare Serie A rule after Mike Maignan was substituted off with a nasty head injury during the 4-0 victory over Udinese on Friday night, but are unlikely to face any punishment as a result.
Milan picked up an entertaining 4-0 win away against Udinese on Friday night thanks to goals from Rafael Leao, Strahinja Pavlovic, Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders, and almost a late fifth from Christian Pulisic had it not been ruled out for a Tammy Abraham offside.
However, there was a troubling scene less than 10 minutes into the second half, when goalkeeper Maignan was briefly knocked unconscious after a vicious collision of heads with teammate Alex Jimenez.
The France international came rushing out of his penalty area in an attempt to head clear a dangerous ball in-behind, but smashed into his colleague, came off worse, was stretchered off the pitch and later taken to hospital for further checks. Milan have confirmed that Maignan has since been discharged.
Which Serie A rule did Milan break after Maignan head injury?
Technically, Milan broke a very specific Serie A rule after Maignan left the field of play.
Maignan was Milan’s nominated captain on the night, and was stretchered off wearing the captain’s armband. Once he had left, Milan played the remaining 40 minutes with no official captain on the pitch.
Typically, Theo Hernandez is Milan’s vice-captain, and he was still on the pitch, albeit without an armband. That means that there is a bit of a novelty in that the Frenchman became the first ‘captain’ to score without wearing an armband since that custom was introduced.
Milan could theoretically be fined for the fact that they did not have an official captain on the pitch, but are likely to avoid any form of punishment according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Pink Paper explains that referee Juan Luca Sacchi should have pointed out the error, and given the circumstances, it would be harsh to punish the Rossoneri.
