Ten-man Milan holds on and beats Udinese

Milan overcame having to play with 10 men for more than an hour to beat Udinese 1-0 on Saturday. It was a dramatic victory that moved seven-time European champions within two points of Serie A leaders Napoli. Paulo Fonseca’s side are third and level on 14 points with second-place Inter Milan after surviving two offside calls, including one deep into stoppage time, to claim a hard-fought victory at the San Siro. Samuel Chukwueze’s 13th-minute strike looked like the first of a comfortable win but ended up being the winning goal as Milan continued to rack up the points.

Their task was made more difficult by the sending off of Tijani Reynders in the 29th minute for a clumsy foul on Sandi Lovric, who would have had a clear shot on target had the Dutch midfielder not clipped his heels.

Tammy Abraham should have sealed the points for Milan with 15 minutes remaining when he somehow managed, moments after replacing Alvaro Morata, to simultaneously miss a golden chance on the rebound and injure his shoulder at the same time.

The owners looked beaten when Christian Kabasele scored for Udinese in the fifth minute of stoppage time, but a huge roar echoed through the ground when, after a lengthy VAR check, the goal was disallowed because Jurgen Ekkelenkamp’s toes were offside.

Milan’s victory came at the flat San Siro stadium following the decision by hardcore Milan ultras fans to stand in silence for most of the match in protest against what they say is a campaign against them by law enforcement and the Italian media .

Leading ultras from both Milan and local rivals Inter (against Roma on Sunday night) were arrested last month and charged with crimes ranging from conspiracy and extortion to assault.

Earlier this week, Milan’s ultras groups denied investigators’ allegations of any involvement in ticket advertising, parking control and sales at concession stands near San Siro.

Meanwhile, police banned the display of the large “Curva Sud Milano” by ultras in that section, causing supporters throughout the stadium, not just the ultras, to leave their banners and flags at home.

Instead, fans at the Curva Sud held a sign in support of their arrested allies, which loosely read: “Stay strong boys.”

Later, Juventus could level with Napoli by beating in-form Lazio, although Thiago MottaThe Russian team received a number of injuries.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)