DBasia.news – AC Milan has not found a way to win again after leaving from the Champions League after losing 1-2 against Liverpool. On week 17 of Serie A at Udinese headquarters, Friuli, Sunday (12/12) morning WIB, Milan drew 1-1.
Stefano Pioli’s Milan even struggled to score after falling behind 0-1 to Beto’s goal in the 17th minute. It took a goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 90+2 minute to equalize. Udinese also played with 10 players after Isaac Success was sent off in 90+5 minutes.
Udinese challenged Milan who only had one kick on target from 12 attempts, despite having 66% of possession. Currently Milan is still in first place in the standings with 39 points, followed by Inter Milan (37 points) and Napoli (36 points), and Atalanta (34 points) who have only played 16 times.
“We struggled to play our style of football and lacked the sharpness to make decisions that would destroy a well-organized defence,” Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.
“When you concede a goal it also makes it more complicated against a team that counter-attacked really well. We didn’t create many scoring chances, but we reached the final third many times and should have equalized earlier.”
From Opta’s data since November 2021, Milan made the most errors that resulted in goals among the top five European leagues (Milan did it four times).
“We conceded a ridiculous goal because we lost the ball, we made the wrong decisions and played too centrally rather than spreading. I don’t know if it was a lack of confidence, but it was definitely a lack of sharpness and we have to be a lot more careful with the ball at our feet,” added Pioli.
“My kids are very aware when they are not playing to their best. We certainly need to do better and I’m sure we will, because there is ambition here, but also the ability to understand our mistakes and correct them.”
“I think we lost a bit of solidity in defense over the last few games, we weren’t sharp when we played from defense and that opened up space. It’s a tactical issue that we need to fix and I’m sure the players will be ready for it.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s record
A relief Milan who failed to achieve full points is Ibrahimovic’s goal. The 40-year-old Swedish forward became the third player in history, after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to score 300 goals in Europe’s top five leagues this century.
It was Ibra’s 300th goal with his accumulated matches in Serie A, Ligue 1, Premier League and LaLiga. Since January 2000 only Cristiano Ronaldo (483 goals) and Messi (475 goals) have scored more goals than Ibrahimovic.
In details Ibra has scored 153 goals in Serie A, 113 goals in Ligue 1, 17 goals in the Premier League and 16 goals in LaLiga. That’s not including 53 goals in MLS and 35 goals in the Eredivisie.