Udinese 2-3 AC Milan: Okafor completes dramatic comeback win for Rossoneri in a game marred by alleged racist abuse

AC Milan won 3-2 at lowly Udinese in Serie A on Saturday thanks to a stoppage-time goal by striker Noah Okafor, after the game was briefly suspended in the first half due to racist chants directed at Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Milan are third in the standings with 45 points after 21 games, six behind leaders Inter Milan and four behind second-place Juventus, both of whom have a game in hand.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek gave Milan the lead with a low first-time shot inside the post shortly before the match was interrupted in the 33rd minute.

Maignan alerted the referee before leaving the pitch due to repeated racist chants from local fans, according to Italian media, and was followed to the tunnel by his teammates.

"These things have nothing to do with football and they hurt, there is no such thing as black or white. We are all the same," Okafor told DAZN.

The club and league expressed their disappointment on the social media platform X, which was previously known as Twitter.

"There is absolutely no place in our game for racism: we are appalled," Milan said.

"Lega Serie A condemns any form of racism," added the Italian league.

The game was restarted after less than 10 minutes, and midfielder Lazar Samardzic equalized for the hosts before the break, before Florian Thauvin put Udinese ahead in the 62nd minute.

But Milan snatched victory when substitute Luka Jovic scored on a rebound in the 83rd minute, after Olivier Giroud had hit the crossbar, and Okafor made it 3-2 in stoppage time from close range.

"In the first half hour we played well, we could have scored a few more goals," coach Stefano Pioli told a press conference.

"The (Maignan) episode then destabilised us a bit, but we recovered by returning to play our game and we managed to find the victory with great determination."

Pioli now has 100 Serie A wins with Milan after 166 games.

He joined Carlo Ancelotti, Nereo Rocco, Fabio Capello, and Nils Liedholm as the only four managers to have led the Rossoneri to 100 league victories before him.

On January 27, Milan will host Bologna, who are currently in seventh place.

Udinese, who are 17th with 18 points, will face fifth-placed Atalanta on the same day.

SportsLigue