Noah Okafor, the striker for Milan, scored a goal in stoppage time to secure a 3-2 victory against Udinese in their Serie A match on Saturday. The game was temporarily halted in the first half due to instances of racist chants directed at Milan’s goalkeeper, Mike Maignan.
Milan currently holds the third spot in the standings with 45 points earned in 21 games. They trail six points behind the top-ranked team Internazionale and four points behind second-place Juventus, who both have a game advantage.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, the midfielder, scored for Milan with a first-time shot into the bottom corner, just before the game was paused in the 33rd minute.
According to Italian media, Maignan notified the referee and left the field after enduring continuous racist chants from the home fans. His teammates then joined him in exiting to the tunnel.
“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 team and the organization utilized the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, to share their disapproval. “Racism has no place in our sport: we are shocked,” stated Milan. “Serie A League denounces all forms of racism,” stated the Italian league.
The match resumed within 10 minutes, and the home team’s midfielder Lazar Samardzic scored a goal to tie the game before halftime. In the 62nd minute, Florian Thauvin scored to give Udinese the lead.
However, Milan was able to secure a win when substitute Luka Jovic scored on a rebound in the 83rd minute, after Olivier Giroud’s shot hit the crossbar. Okafor then sealed the victory with a goal from close range in stoppage time, making the final score 3-2.
During the initial 30 minutes, our performance was strong and we had the potential to score additional goals,” stated coach Stefano Pioli during a press briefing. However, the incident involving [Maignan] caused some disruption, but we were able to regain our composure and continue playing our style of game, ultimately securing the win with great perseverance.
Pioli achieved his 100th victory in the Serie A with Milan in 166 games, making him one of only four managers to reach this milestone with the Rossoneri. The other three are Carlo Ancelotti, Nereo Rocco, Fabio Capello, and Nils Liedholm.
On January 27th, Milan will host Bologna, who are currently in seventh place. On the same day, Udinese, currently in 17th place with 18 points, will visit Atalanta, who are in fifth place.
Source: theguardian.com
