Milan were almost perfect in an eventual 4-0 win away against Udinese in Serie A on Friday night, despite a worrying head injury to goalkeeper Mike Maignan, as Rafael Leao, Strahinja Pavlovic, Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders made for an entertaining evening at the Bluenergy Stadium.
Milan were without right-backs Kyle Walker and Emerson Royal, which led to a switch in formation from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-3 with Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia and Strahinja Pavlovic across the back. There was no Santiago Gimenez either, and Luka Jovic was preferred to Tammy Abraham.
You can see how it unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.
Milan had an immediate chance to get ahead straight from kick-off, as a long ball over the top caused confusion between Thomas Kristensen and Jaka Bijol, which sent Reijnders through one-on-one, where Maduka Odoye stopped him from 10 yards out.
Mike Maignan also tried the route-one approach in the early stages and found Rafael Leao with a perfectly-placed 90-yard pass, but the Portugal international was unable to apply the finishing touches.
While Udinese had a couple of half-chances midway through the half-way stage, it was Milan who went in for the break with a two-goal advantage.
Leao claimed the first with a wonderful first-time finish from a central position on the edge of the area, bending an effort away from him and into the far corner with his right foot after a good bit of work and lay-off from Youssouf Fofana.
The Rossoneri advantage would be doubled less than three minutes later, as Pavlovic rose highest in the area to get a head on Christian Pulisic’s corner, which might have gone in off the shoulder of Oumar Solet moments before the half-time break.
The second half got off to a troubling start when Mike Maignan came out and tried to clear a tricky ball with a header outside of his area, but collided heads with Alex Jimenez and briefly lost consciousness.
The whistle went immediately, even though Udinese were through on an open goal, and the Frenchman was stretchered off. He was conscious by the time he made it into the tunnel.
Jimenez was later replaced on the 75th minute, just shy of 20 minutes after the incident. It was surprising that he had been allowed to continue in the first place. He left after a signal from Tomori that he needed to come off, and walked off in a visible daze.
Still, Milan were not distracted, and seeled their victory shortly afterwards with a wonderful Theo Hernandez goal.
The Frenchman was involved in a one-touch passing move on the halfway line, and was freed by an Abraham flick, which sent him through on goal with all the ...
