A victory at the Stadio Friuli would make it three successes out of five to begin the season.
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Balotelli had already showed signs of a revival when he came off the bench and hit the post in the derby and he now appears to have solidified his place in Milan’s attack alongside either Carlos Bacca or Luiz Adriano – both also new signings. Edenilson, somewhat surprisingly, got the nod ahead of Widmer for the hosts.
From 30 yards out – and at a slight angle – Balotelli rifled the ball towards the goal, leaving Udinese goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis standing as the ball flew home.
He gave his side a 1-0 lead just four minutes into their midweek Serie A clash at Udinese on Tuesday night.
Wague and Domizzi split, allowing Bonaventura to ghost through the middle, tempting Montolivo into an ariel through ball that the midfielder placed to perfection.
That was until the 45th minute, when a scrambled effort from Keisuke Honda resulted in a corner.
“We were winning 3-0, but then we got careless”, Balotelli reflected.
Juve’s task was made much easier after Genoa had Armando Izzo sent off one minute before halftime and Pogba’s penalty, harshly awarded for a foul by Diogo Figueiras on Giorgo Chiellini, polished off the game with half an hour to play.
However Milan were dealt a blow as Calabria was forced off injured, and with no full back on the bench he had to be replaced by Alex, with Zapata moving to right back.
“In those situations you can’t stop playing and we should have tried to at least score one more goal”. Game on at 1-3.
“I am slowly getting my revenge”, Balotelli told Sky Sport Italia. Use the links below to download and get more from Indy Football…
Lopez was the hero in the last minute as he tipped over Bruno Fernandes’s fierce drive from outside the box after a training ground corner routine.
Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic says he was angry at the end of the Udinese match because his players lost concentration in the second half.
Matteo Politano put the visitors back in front on the stroke of halftime but a brilliant Mohamed Salah volley early in the second half rescued a point for Roma.
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As impressive as the first half was for Milan, the second period was a near disaster.
