MILAN, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Nicolas Lopez came off the bench to score the winner before the end as Udinese beat AC Milan 2-1 at the Coppa Italia quarter-final on Wednesday.
The Uruguayan, who replaeced Luis Muriel, finished a long run with a superb left-foot effort that crashed into the bottom right corner from 20 yards with 12 minutes left.
Muriel pulled level for Udinese at the 41st minute after Mario Balotelli put Milan 1-0 ahead after only seven minutes into play.
The hosts quickly broke forward and Kaka's excellent cross from the right was swept in by Balotelli from close range.
Urby Emanuelson conceded a spot-kick, bringing down Silvan Widmer after the pair clashed in the penalty area, and Muriel powered his effort past Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.
Milan head coach Clarence Seedorf remained optimistic following his side's exit from the Coppa Italia competition.
"The whole team worked hard, but when they get tired and stretched out it' s an old story in football," he said.
"We are not yet able to be consistent in terms of our football, but I saw interesting things today that leave me optimistic we'll be able to improve the situation."
"When you play for a big club, you know the demands are high, but I told the lads to be as calm as possible. I want hard work and effort to turn the situation around; I said one victory wouldn't change everything," he said.
Udinese head coach Francesco Guidolin praised Udinese for fighting back to beat Milan.
"The game started badly and at the moment it seems we always concede at the first opportunity," he said.
"It wasn't easy to gain confidence, but slowly we were able to cover the gaping hole of disappointment. Then we played the way Udinese know how, the kind of performance we had in the past," he said.