They may well fall short of winning the Scudetto this year, but one thing’s for certain, AC Milan have one of Serie A’s superstars, and one of the biggest pulls in the game.
At the grand old age of 39, Swedish sensation Zlatan Ibrahimovic can still dominate the headlines, as he did for the right and wrong reasons in the Rossoneri’s 3-1 win over Parma on Saturday. He ran the hosts’ defence ragged in the first half, setting up two goals, but then he took an early bath, copping a straight red card for something he said to the referee!
Meanwhile, their city rivals Inter Milan took another big step towards winning the Serie A title with a win over Genoa, Juventus swept past Genoa and there were victories for Napoli and Lazio.
Ibrahimovic writes the Serie A 2021 news
You just can’t keep the legendary Zlatan Ibrahimovic quiet, though maybe his head coach Stefano Pioli wishes he could! Zlatan was involved in both of Milan’s first-half goals as they raced into a two-goal lead by half time in Parma. He brilliantly teed up Ante Rebic in the eighth minute and he played a big part in the move that was rounded off by Franck Kessie a minute before half time.
But Milan’s comfortable afternoon was disturbed on the hour when the referee brandished a red card in the direction of Ibrahimovic and the bemused Swede trudged off. It’s still unclear exactly what he said to the ref to earn his eighth dismissal in Europe’s top five leagues, his boss Pioli said: “Zlatan told me that he argued with the referee and it lasted some time. He assured me that he did not disrespect him and above all he did not offend.”
Presumably, the sensitive official saw it otherwise and, in any case, the incident allowed Parma back into the game as Riccardo Gaglio pulled a goal back. But Rafael Leao restored Milan’s two-goal lead as the Rossoneri stayed in second place and reduce the gap to leaders Inter to eight points, while Parma stay in serious trouble in 19th place and in danger of being cut adrift.
11 is heaven for Antonio Conte
But then Inter Milan wasted no time in extending their lead to 11 points with a hard-earned win over relegation-threatened Cagliari. Defender Matteo Darmian scored the only goal in the game to hand Inter an 11th successive victory.
While their rivals have stumbled in recent weeks, Inter have been closing in on the Scudetto and the Serie A 2021 betting odds have Milan and Juventus battling it out for the second place. So you can excuse head coach Antonio Conte for running on the pitch to celebrate with his players when Darmian converted a cross from Achraf Hakimi. Cagliari threw everything at their hosts in an attempt to salvage something but to no avail and they remain seven points from safety.
The Nerazzurri’s first Scudetto since 2010 and their 19th in history is within touching distance.
Antonio Conte celebrates with Romelu Lukaku after Matteo Darmian scored their opening goal against Cagliari
Too little too late for Juventus
Juventus’ midweek victory over Napoli lifted the Old Lady up to third in the table and they followed that up with a comfortable 3-1 home win against Genoa, but this upturn in form has come far too late for the reigning champions to have a realistic hope of making it ten consecutive Scudettos.
The Old Lady raced into a two-goal lead when Dejan Kulusevski scored on four minutes and Alvaro Morata doubled the advantage midway through the first half. Gianluca Scammaca halved the deficit when he met a Nicolo Rovella corner with a thumping header, but Weston McKennie restored Juve’s two-goal lead with a cool finish.
Napoli’s Top Four charge is back on track
Here at SBOTOP, the Serie A fans among us have been impressed by Napoli’s fightback in the second half of the season, and a 2-0 victory over Sampdoria lifted them up to fourth in the table a position which seemed unlikely at the turn of the year. Fabian Ruiz scored a first-half beauty when he took a pass from Piotr Zielinski outside the penalty area and fired his shot low into the bottom right corner, and Victor Osimhen made it two when he finished off a rapid break late in the second half.
Elsewhere a 92nd-minute header from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic gave Lazio a 1-0 victory over Hellas Verona, and that keeps the Romans in the top four race, and Atalanta could nudge Napoli out if they can win away to Fiorentina in the Sunday night match.
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