Udinese 0-2 AC Milan: Pulisic and Hutchinson extend Amorim's unbeaten Serie A start

Ruben Amorim's unbeaten start to life in Serie A continued as goals in either half from Christian Pulisic and Omari Hutchinson earned AC Milan a 2-0 win over Udinese.

Milan remain within four points of leaders Inter after eight games of their season, as they delivered the perfect response to their Europa League thrashing by Bournemouth.

Pulisic capitalised on some woeful Udinese defending early on, with Hutchinson tucking home his first goal since joining Milan on loan to seal all three points after the break. 

The Rossoneri needed just six minutes to get ahead after some quick thinking from Luka Modric, whose free-kick caught the Udinese defence napping, with Pulisic plucking the ball out the sky before finishing coolly beyond Maduka Okoye.

Davide Bartesaghi should have doubled Milan's lead five minutes later after he was slipped in by Pulisic, but as he closed in on goal, he lashed his left-footed effort over the bar. 

Bartesaghi and Pulisic then somehow failed to turn Fikayo Tomori's cross home, with some last-ditch defending from James Abankwah then denying Strahinja Pavlovic a shot at goal just before the break. 

Milan upped the pressure on the hour mark, with Pulisic thwarted at the near post by Okoye, with Goncalo Ramos then curling over from outside the area moments later. 

But the visitors' dominance was rewarded in the 65th minute through Hutchinson. Ardon Jashari's strike was only parried into the path of the on-loan attacker, who was the quickest to react. 

A wonderful piece of goalkeeping denied Milan a third soon after. Pulisic's goal-bound effort deflected off Christian Kabasele and into the path of Ramos, but his first-time shot was superbly tipped onto the crossbar by Okoye. 

Mike Maignan, sent off in midweek against Bournemouth, preserved his clean sheet late on after thwarting Keinan Davis from point-blank range, as Milan comfortably held on. 

Timeless Modric rolls back the years as Milan keep up the pressure

After enduring a difficult return to England on Thursday as Milan were thumped 3-0 by Bournemouth in the Europa League, Amorim had a point to prove, and his strong start in Serie A extended to eight matches. 

It is the third time in the last 20 top-flight seasons that Milan have gone this long without defeat, after 2020-21 and 2021-22, and it was a moment of class and quality that got them up and running at Bluenergy Stadium. 

Modric's delicate ball over the top saw him become the player who has provided the most assists after turning 40 since Serie A returned to 20 teams (from 2004-05), with this his fourth, which saw him surpass Zlatan Ibrahimovic (three). 

Milan have made it four straight Serie A away wins against Udinese, doing so with an aggregate scoreline of 12-2, matching their best record against the same opposition in the competition between 1999 and 2001, and they could have won by a more handsome scoreline here. 

Amorim's side finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 3.12 from their 19 shots, seven of which were on target, compared to Udinese's total of 0.42 from their 12 attempts.