MILAN (AP) Zlatan Ibrahimović took his tally to more than 500 club goals as he scored twice to help AC Milan beat Crotone 4-0 and move back top of the Serie A standings on Sunday.
Ibrahimović fired Milan ahead in the 30th minute with his 500th club goal and extended that tally in the second half. Ante Rebić scored two goals in less than a minute shortly after.
“Looking at how he (Ibrahimović) prepares himself and how he trains, it’s hard to be surprised. He’s a champion,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. “It’s difficult to keep doing what he does, when he’s fit he almost always scores two goals. That’s who he is. He has helped and he continues helping the team to grow.”
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Milan moves two points above second-place Inter Milan, which won 2-0 at Fiorentina on Friday. The two Milan teams meet in two weeks.
Zlatan scores his 13th Serie A goal of the season in just his 11th game 🔥 pic.twitter.com/rCURkIrYFZ
— ESPN (@espn) February 7, 2021
Lazio can move into the top four with a win at home to struggling Cagliari later.
Crotone came into the match rock bottom having lost five of its previous six matches.
Milan thought it had taken an early lead but Davide Calabria’s goal was disallowed as Ibrahimović had been offside in the buildup.
It did break the deadlock when Ibrahimović played a one-two with Rafael Leão before placing an angled drive into the far side of the net.
Ibrahimović’s 501st club goal was perhaps the easiest he’s ever scored as he was left unmarked, six yards out, to tap in Theo Hernández’s low cross.
That was in the 64th minute and Crotone then fell apart.
Rebić headed in Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s corner in the 69th and then moments later fired in the rebound after Ibrahimović’s effort had been parried by Crotone goalkeeper Alex Cordaz.
Only Ronaldo has scored more Serie A goals than Zlatan this season.
And he’s played six more games 😳 pic.twitter.com/WbXy7V6Wwy
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 7, 2021
