Milan ease past Crotone, Ibrahimovic scored his 501st club goal

Inter put the pressure, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ante Rebic replied with two goals each, and Milan took over the first place in Serie A, after beating Crotone 4-0. Rossoneri handled the rock bottom Crotone in a game in which Ibra scored his 501st club goal. The Swedish international had another great game and increased his goal tally to 14 in Serie A this season, as much as his rival Lukaku.

It was another routine win for league leaders, but it wasn’t like that until the last 30 minutes of the match. If Crotone was a bit more precise, they could have scored at San Siro early in the game and cause problems for Rossoneri.

Milan didn’t start the game as Pioli was hoping, probably because they thought that Crotone would surrender, but the guests came out flying. The bottom-placed club of Serie A had the initiative, even a couple of chances but they couldn’t score. On the other side, Calabria’s goal was disallowed since Ibrahimovic was offside, but Milan striker soon made amends with his 500th club goal.

Leao made a lovely ball in space to Ibra, who finished it into the far top corner for the lead in the 30th minute.

Rossoneri waited until the 64th minute to close the game. It was Ibrahimovic again, and Crotone’s defense childishly left one of the best strikers in the world unmarked in the goal area.

After Ibra’s second goal, it was all over, but Ante Rebic wanted to score some, and he had two, in a space of one minute.

Milan is playing Spezia next, and after the Europa League match against Red Star Belgrade, they are facing Inter in a derby match. What a game that will be.

In the first match on Sunday, Benevento and Sampdoria drew 1-1, and the hosts missed the opportunity to defeat Raineri’s men for the third time. The guests were in control for the bigger part of the game, but Benevento’a goalkeeper Montipo saved everything thrown his way. And when that happens, the attacking team gets punished. Former Sampdoria player Caprari took a shot in the 55th minute and found a small piece of empty space between the bar and goalkeeper Audero for the lead.

Sampdoria’s best player in this match Keita Balde finally broke the deadlock in the 80th minute. Doria tried to score a winner after the equalizer, but in the end, but the score remained the same. Claudio Ranieri’s team will regret not winning this one.

In the other Sunday match, Udinese managed to defeat Hellas Verona with an all Spanish attack – Deulofeu and Llorente. The hosts were missing their best player Rodrigo De Paul due to a ban, but Deulofeu. The Spaniard forced an own goal and scored the second for the win. The teams had their own moments, Udinese in the first half and Verona in the second, but it was the host who scored first and eventually won the game.

SERIE A ROUND 21

Friday

Fiorentina-Inter 0-2

/Barella 31’, Perisic 52’/

Saturday

Atalanta-Torino 3-3

/Ilicic 14', Sirigu 19', Muriel 21' - Belotti 42', Bremer 45', Bonazzoli 84'/

Sassuolo-Spezia 1-2

/Caputo 25' - Erlic 39', Gyasi 78'/

Juventus-Roma 2-0

/C. Ronaldo 13', Ibanez (OG) 68'/

Genova – Napoli 2-1 (2-0)

/Pandev 11’, 26’ – Politano 79’/

Sunday

Benevento – Sampdoria 1-1 (0-0)

/Caprari 55’, Balde 80’/

Milan – Crotone 4-0 (1-0)

/Ibrahimovic 30’, 64’, Rebic, 69’, 70’/

Udinese – Verona 2-0 (0-0)

/Silvestri (og) 81’, Deulofeu 90’+1/

18:00 (3.05)Parma (3.25) Bologna(2.40)

22:45 (1.40)Lazio (4.50) Cagliari(8.50)