Udinese Stun AC Milan to Hand Giampaolo Losing Start
MILAN (Reuters) – Udinese have handed AC Milan's new coach Marco Giampaolo a losing start when a Rodrigo Becao header gave them a shock 1-0 win in Serie A.
Becao, making his debut after joining from Bahia in his native Brazil, rose above the Milan defense at the near post to head in from a corner in the 72nd minute on a sweltering afternoon in Udine.
It was a largely toothless performance by Milan who replaced Gennaro Gattuso with former Sampdoria coach Giampaolo during the close season in a bid to improve on last season's fifth place and to take them back to the Champions League.
Udinese suffered a scare in the 81st minute when the ball appeared to brush defender Samir's arm as he jumped at a corner but, after a VAR review which took nearly four minutes, the referee decided against a penalty.
*******Giuseppe Pezzella, left, and Samuel Castillejo vie for the ball during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Udinese and AC Milan.
Becao, making his debut after joining from Bahia in his native Brazil, rose above the Milan defense at the near post to head in from a corner in the 72nd minute on a sweltering afternoon in Udine.
It was a largely toothless performance by Milan who replaced Gennaro Gattuso with former Sampdoria coach Giampaolo during the close season in a bid to improve on last season's fifth place and to take them back to the Champions League.
Udinese suffered a scare in the 81st minute when the ball appeared to brush defender Samir's arm as he jumped at a corner but, after a VAR review which took nearly four minutes, the referee decided against a penalty.
*******Giuseppe Pezzella, left, and Samuel Castillejo vie for the ball during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Udinese and AC Milan.