Udinese puts a massive dent Milan's Scudetto hopes
AC Milan's Scudetto hopes suffered a further blow, after a resounding 3-0 defeat by Udinese at San Siro.
The Rossoneri were beaten for the third time in four Serie A games, as they missed the chance to return to second place behind leader Inter Milan.
Udinese broke the deadlock in the 27th minute. Nicolo Zaniolo embarked on a strong run to the edge of the box from inside his own half and fed Arthur Atta, whose effort was inadvertently turned into his own goal by Davide Bartesaghi.
Rafael Leao headed wide as Milan sought a response at the other end, while Keinan Davis' strike was tipped onto the crossbar by Mike Maignan.
Yet, the visitors doubled their lead moments later. Zaniolo played another key role, as his floated cross was headed in off the post by Jurgen Ekkelenkamp.
Milan almost replied seven minutes into the second half, but Maduka Okoye did brilliantly to push Alexis Saelemaekers' half-volley onto the bar from 20 yards.
However, Udinese sealed the victory 19 minutes from time. After Adrien Rabiot lost possession on the halfway line, Ekkelenkamp found Atta, with the latter beating Maignan to inflict further misery on the hosts.
Having beaten Inter here earlier this season, Udinese has defeated both Milan clubs at San Siro in the same Serie A campaign for only the second time in its history, also achieving the feat in 2003-2004.
Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri conceded fans were right to boo his team as they trudged off in defeat.
"It is part of football," he said. "When you win, you are good; when you lose, you are not. It was right that they booed us today.
"This is a difficult moment for the team. We have lost three of our last four, and failed to score in four games during the second half of the season.
"If you are in the top four, going four games without scoring is simply not good enough.
"On the second goal, we were three against one. We need to return to being organised and clear-headed, because we still have every possibility of making the Champions League."
Milan travels to Verona for its next league game, before a huge top-four clash on 27 April (AEST) against Juventus, which defeated Atalanta this matchday.
