ROME, Nov 1: Turning 40 hasn’t stopped Zlatan Ibrahimović from being Zlatan Ibrahimović.
The ageless Sweden great, whose 40th birthday was on Oct. 3, scored one goal and also drew a penalty that led to AC Milan’s second goal in a 2-1 win at José Mourinho’s Roma in the Italian league on Sunday.
Before he was substituted near the hour mark, Ibrahimović tormented Roma with chance after chance, with only the offside rule and VAR preventing him from scoring or setting up several more goals.
The victory extended Milan’s superb start in Serie A and kept the Rossoneri level on points with Napoli, which still leads on goal difference after a 1-0 win over regional rival Salernitana.
Ibrahimović scored midway through the first half with a powerful free kick through Roma’s wall for his 400th career league goal.
His first league goal came almost exactly 22 years ago – on Oct. 30, 1999 as an 18-year-old for Malmö FF in Sweden’s top division.
Ibrahimović was the victim of a hard tackle from Roger Ibañez, and the referee whistled for a penalty confirmed by VAR, leading to Franck Kessie’s spot kick in the 57th.
Milan then ended with 10 men after Theo Hernandez picked up his second yellow card. Stephan El Shaarawy pulled one back for Roma in stoppage time.
Napoli vs Salernitana
Napoli struggled to find the target in its win over Salernitana, which is back in the top division for the first time in over two decades.
Piotr Zielinski scored on the hour mark.
Inter Milan vs Udinese
Joaquín Correa scored two second-half goals in an eight-minute span as defending champion Inter Milan beat Udinese 2-0 to stay 7 points behind the leaders.
Fiorentina vs Spezia
Wantaway forward Dušan Vlahović scored a hat trick to help Fiorentina beat Spezia 3-0. Vlahović converted a penalty on the stroke of halftime and added two after the break to take his tally to nine in Serie A this season. (AP)
