Zlatan Ibrahimovic inspires Milan win at Roma as Athletic deny Real Sociedad

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 150th Serie A goal as Milan inflicted Jose Mourinho’s first home defeat in the Italian top flight with a 2-1 win over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday to keep pace with Serie A leaders Napoli.

The 40-year-old striker rifled a low free-kick into the bottom corner in the 25th minute to put the visitors ahead after a lively start, his 400th goal in total in domestic leagues.

Ibrahimovic had a brilliantly finished second ruled out for offside after the break, just like team mate Rafael Leão in the first half, before going down under Roger Ibañez’s challenge to earn a spot kick that Franck Kessié converted in the 57th.

Milan were reduced to 10 men for the final 25 minutes after left back Theo Hernández was shown a second yellow card, but Stephan El Shaarawy’s stoppage-time strike was not enough to rescue the game for Roma.

Napoli maintained top spot with a 1-0 win at Salernitana on Sunday, but had to work hard against the relegation battlers as Piotr Zielinski scored a scrappy winner and both sides had players sent off late in the game.

Napoli struggled to create in the absence of the injured top-scorer Victor Osimhen and captain Lorenzo Insigne, who was only fit enough for the bench, but they eventually broke through in the 61st minute. The substitute Andrea Petagna headed against the bar, the ball was cleared to Mario Rui, and the defender’s shot deflected into the path of Zielinski for a close-range finish.

It was Napoli’s first shot on target and proved to be enough for the win, and there was more incident to come when Salernitana midfielder Grigoris Kastanos and Napoli captain Kalidou Koulibaly were sent off in the final 20 minutes.

Earlier, Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic scored a hat-trick to fire his seventh-placed side to a 3-0 win over a Spezia team stuck in the relegation zone. The Viola have 18 points. Empoli rose to 10th, level on 15 points with Juventus, after coming from behind to beat 12th-placed Sassuolo, while Genoa and Venezia, who both sit just above the drop zone, drew 0-0.

In La Liga, Real Sociedad went back to the top of La Liga after the derby with Athletic Bilbao but were left to run an injury-time equaliser for their Basque rivals.

Alexander Isak had given Sociedad a 58th-minute lead from the penalty spot. Just as they were contemplating a three-point advantage on Real Madrid and Sevilla at the top, Bilbao levelled in stoppage time. Iker Muniain’s free-kick beat Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro’s failed attempt to punch the ball clear.

Atlético Madrid put an end to their winless run by beating Real Betis 3-0 to stay within range of the Spanish league leaders. Atlético got on the board with goals from Yannick Carrasco and João Félix, and an own-goal by Betis defender German Pezzella, in heavy rain at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium. The victory moves Atlético within two points of leaders Real Madrid, Sevilla and Real Sociedad.

Mallorca drew 1-1 at Cádiz after conceding a late goal for the third consecutive match. The visitors opened the scoring with a goal by Iddrisu Baba in the 29th, and Álvaro Negredo equalized for Cádiz by converting a penalty three minutes into stoppage time. Enes Ünal’s double strike saw the bottom club, Getafe, defeat Espanyol 2-1 for only their second win of the season.

Álvaro Negredo after equalising for Cadiz against Mallorca.
Álvaro Negredo after equalising for Cadiz against Mallorca. Photograph: Fran Santiago/Getty Images

In France, Nice moved up to second place in Ligue 1 with another comeback win, Andy Delort scoring twice in a 2-1 victory over Angers. The Angers winger Sofiane Boufal opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 29th minute after Youcef Atal tripped him inside the area.

But Delort equalized with a deflected shot in the 57th before slamming home a volley from the edge of the box in stoppage time. The victory moves the club within eight points of league leader Paris Saint-Germain.

Elsewhere, Brest stunned Monaco 2-0 to earn their first win of the season but remain in the relegation zone. The Benin international striker Steve Mounie scored from close range after Jeremy Le Douaron diverted a free-kick from Romain Faivre in the 17th. Brest capitalised on a counterattack to double the lead in the 79th as Franck Honorat converted a cross from Irvin Cardona.

Strasbourg striker Habib Diallo raised his tally to six goals for the season by scoring twice in a 4-0 win over Lorient while Florent Mollet and Elye Wahi led mid-table Montpellier to a 2-0 win over Nantes, Bordeaux moved away from the relegation zone with a 3-2 comeback win over Reims, and Troyes stayed in the bottom half of the table after drawing 2-2 with fifth-placed Rennes.

source: theguardian.com