'Exceptional' Ibra scales new heights for Milan

MILAN－Zlatan Ibrahimovic broke the 500 mark for career club goals with a brace on Sunday as AC Milan reclaimed top spot in Serie A with a 4-0 win over lowly Crotone.

"It's difficult to be surprised by Ibrahimovic," said Rossoneri coach Stefano Pioli of the 39-year-old who is powering his team's bid for a first 'Scudetto' since 2011.

Milan moved back two points in front of city rival Inter Milan who had pulled ahead after a 2-0 win over Fiorentina on Friday.

Champion Juventus is a further five back in third after beating Roma 2-0 on Saturday.

The capital side dropped to fourth equal on points with city rival Lazio which beat Cagliari 1-0.

Ibrahimovic opened the scoring on the half-hour mark at the San Siro after combining with Rafael Leao for his 500th strike with nine different clubs.

And the Swede brought his tally to 501 in the 64th minute, finishing off a Theo Hernandez cross for his 83rd Milan goal.

"To hold up at this level means you're an exceptional professional and he's helped by a physique that few have," continued Pioli.

"He's a champion, an athlete who has great motivation, he takes care of his body scrupulously. Sometimes he's tired, but he never fails."

Ante Rebic turned the game into a comprehensive win with a quick-fire brace of his own past Crotone goalkeeper Alex Cordaz.

The Croatian headed in a Hakan Calhanoglu corner in the 69th minute and then seconds later turned in a rebound after Cordaz kept out an Ibrahimovic strike.

"The Scudetto? The decisive matches will come later, now we have to withstand all the pressures which is a privilege to have," said Pioli. "The top seven are all capable of fighting for the title and the first four places.

"It's not yet time to look too much at the table, a challenging period will come with many matches and the Europa League is about to start again."

'My job is to score'

Ibrahimovic showed his incredible form 22 years after making his professional debut for Swedish club Malmo, scoring his first goal in October 1999.

The 39-year-old is in his second spell at Milan, where he has now scored 83 goals. His goal tallies for other clubs are Malmo (18), Ajax (48), Juventus (26), Inter (66), Barcelona (22), Paris Saint-Germain (156), Manchester United (29) and LA Galaxy (53).

"It means that I have scored a few goals in my career," said the Swede, who was substituted with 15 minutes to go.

"The important thing is to continue to help the team in the best possible way. My job is to score and create situations to score."

Ibrahimovic reached his latest milestone in 825 games. He has now scored 396 league goals, 57 in European competitions and 48 in cup games.

The former Sweden striker returned to Milan in January 2020 and has scored 27 goals in 37 appearances since.

He has scored 14 league goals in 11 games this season having been sidelined with a coronavirus infection and injury, two short of top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, who turned 36 on Friday and netted the opener in Juve's 2-0 victory at home to Roma on Saturday.

With 116 games for his country and 62 goals, Ibrahimovic is the all-time leading scorer for the Swedish national team.

In Rome, Ciro Immobile scored the only goal as Lazio extended its winning streak to six league games to move ahead of Napoli and level with Roma.

Cagliari goalkeeper Alessio Cragno kept the relegation-threatened Sardinians in the game for an hour, denying an Immobile header, and pushing away a Luis Alberto volley.

But he could do nothing to stop Immobile latching on to Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's headed cross with the Italian finishing off with his left foot.

Last season's European golden shoe winner has now 14 goals this campaign, equal with Ibrahimovic and Inter's Romelu Lukaku.

The two Milan teams will meet on Feb 21.