Zlatan Ibrahimovic of AC Milan scored the oldest goal in Serie A history on Saturday, but it was not enough to prevent them from losing 3-1 against Udinese, ending their chances of finishing in the top four.
Milan squandered the opportunity to go up to second and instead stayed in fourth place with 48 points, one point ahead of AS Roma in fifth, who will play Lazio on Sunday.
It wasn’t a good performance. When a team plays in this manner, without being aggressive, intense, precise, or focused, it indicates that the coach did not do a good job of organizing the game. Last evening, we performed much below our potential,” Milan manager Stefano Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.
“It’s obvious that we won’t win the Scudetto back, but we can win this mini-league of teams vying for Champions League spots. This season, we can and should perform better.”
After nine minutes, Ismael Bennacer’s weak pass was intercepted by Lazar Samardzic, who then charged into the box and found Roberto Pereyra, who grabbed the ball and slid it into the right corner.
When the hosts adopted an aggressive stance from the opening whistle and created multiple opportunities to double their lead, it took Milan 20 minutes to establish a foothold in the game.
But Milan struck next, albeit under mysterious circumstances.
Ibrahimovic, Milan striker, initially missed a penalty following a handball late in the first half before it was retaken after play had already continued for a minute due to encroachment.
After the verdict, Udinese coach Andrea Sottil verbally abused the referee and was thus dismissed.
Ibrahimovic, who was starting his first game since January 2022, did not miss a second time, converting four minutes into first-half stoppage time, to become the oldest goalscorer in Serie A history at 41 years and 166 days.
He outlasted Alessandro Costacurta’s previous record, which he set in 2007, by 141 days. In a loss to Udinese, Costacurta also scored Milan’s final goal from the penalty spot.
But, the joy was short-lived because two minutes later, Beto scored from close range on an Isaac Success cross to give Udinese the lead once more.
In the 70th minute, Kingsley Ehizibue, who was unmarked, knocked in a pass from Destiny Udogie at the back post to give Udinese the victory.
Udinese’s chances of competing in Europe next season were maintained by the victory as they moved up to eighth place, seven points behind Atalanta in sixth, the final qualifying spot.
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