Ibrahimovic breaks 500-goal club mark to keep AC Milan top

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

Milan moved back two points ahead of city rivals Inter Milan who had pulled ahead after a 2-0 win over Fiorentina on Friday, with champions Juventus third after beating Roma by the same scoreline on Saturday.

The 39-year-old Ibrahimovic opened the scoring on the half an hour at the San Siro after combining with Rafael Leao for his 500th club strike.

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

Ante Rebic turned it 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.

But Ibrahimovic was the star of the match, showing his incredible form 22 years after making his professional debut for Swedish club Malmo in 1999.

“It means that I have scored a few goals in my career,” said the Swede who was substituted off 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 the landmark in 825 games, having played for three Serie A sides, Juventus, Inter and Milan, as well as Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Barcelona, Ajax and Los Angeles Galaxy.

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, two short of top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also scored 62 times in 116 international appearances for Sweden.

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