Back home: Balotelli off the mark as Milan edge Udinese 3-2
Striker scores from a superb free-kick in first start of the season.
Striker scores from a superb free-kick in first start of the season. PHOTO: AFP
MILAN:
Mario Balotelli scored the first goal of his second spell at AC Milan as the Serie A giants held on for a hard-fought 3-2 win at Udinese on Tuesday.
In his first start for the Rossoneri since moving back to the club on loan from Liverpool at the start of this season — having left Milan a year earlier to sign a permanent deal with the Premier League outfit — the controversial Italy international forward needed just five minutes to open his account.
But Balotelli said it hadn’t been easy for him as Udinese’s players tried to wind him up. “It was a difficult game for me because I knew they wanted to provoke me,” he told Mediaset Premium. “I got a yellow card for nothing and that ruined my game a bit. However, I’m happy with my performance.”
Further goals from Giacomo Bonaventura and Cristian Zapata had seemingly put the game to bed before the half-time whistle but Udinese came back strong in the second half to make for a nervy last half-hour for the Rossoneri.
“The first half went well, there was only one team on the pitch,” said Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic. “At half-time I told the lads a match lasts 95 minutes, not 45, and that rather than manage [the lead] we needed another goal. We need to learn better how to manage the nerves.”
Udinese launched a stirring second-half fight-back that probably deserved more than just two goals from Emmanuel Badu and Duvan Zapata.
Udinese remain in the relegation zone on three points after a fourth defeat in five matches this season.
All eyes were on Balotelli, though, even before the 25-year-old stepped up to curl a free-kick into the top corner of goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis’s net. “Balotelli had a great game, with a goal and being fouled many times,” added Mihajlovic. “He never reacted and was always lucid. The real Balotelli is back.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2015.
Mario Balotelli scored the first goal of his second spell at AC Milan as the Serie A giants held on for a hard-fought 3-2 win at Udinese on Tuesday.
In his first start for the Rossoneri since moving back to the club on loan from Liverpool at the start of this season — having left Milan a year earlier to sign a permanent deal with the Premier League outfit — the controversial Italy international forward needed just five minutes to open his account.
But Balotelli said it hadn’t been easy for him as Udinese’s players tried to wind him up. “It was a difficult game for me because I knew they wanted to provoke me,” he told Mediaset Premium. “I got a yellow card for nothing and that ruined my game a bit. However, I’m happy with my performance.”
Further goals from Giacomo Bonaventura and Cristian Zapata had seemingly put the game to bed before the half-time whistle but Udinese came back strong in the second half to make for a nervy last half-hour for the Rossoneri.
“The first half went well, there was only one team on the pitch,” said Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic. “At half-time I told the lads a match lasts 95 minutes, not 45, and that rather than manage [the lead] we needed another goal. We need to learn better how to manage the nerves.”
Udinese launched a stirring second-half fight-back that probably deserved more than just two goals from Emmanuel Badu and Duvan Zapata.
Udinese remain in the relegation zone on three points after a fourth defeat in five matches this season.
All eyes were on Balotelli, though, even before the 25-year-old stepped up to curl a free-kick into the top corner of goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis’s net. “Balotelli had a great game, with a goal and being fouled many times,” added Mihajlovic. “He never reacted and was always lucid. The real Balotelli is back.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2015.