Published : Monday, 19 October, 2020 at 12:00 AM Count : 383
MILAN, OCT 18: Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck twice in his first match back from coronavirus on Saturday as AC Milan beat city rivals Inter Milan 2-1 to take top spot in Serie A ahead of Atalanta who slumped 4-1 at Napoli. But champions Juventus, playing without quarantined Cristiano Ronaldo, were held 1-1 at promoted Crotone whose first top-flight point this season moved the southerners off the bottom of the table. "I was so hungry and it showed," said Ibrahimovic who bagged his second double in as many league matches. "They locked the wrong animal at home for two weeks. "It's not easy mentally to always be at home coming off a very high pace, the body is shaking because it wants to work, it wants to play.
"I lost my sense of taste a little bit, but I had a swab every three days and nobody was going to stop me playing the derby. "This derby was very important, AC Milan hadn't won for four years." The 39-year-old stamped his mark on the game early, having also scored back in February only for Inter to win 4-2. He missed a 13th-minute penalty but turned in the rebound, with a perfect Rafael Leao cross setting up the Swede for the second three minutes later. Romelu Lukaku pulled a goal back after half an hour but Antonio Conte's Inter were struggling with six players out to Covid-19. Milan won their opening four matches for the first time since the 1995-1996 season when they won the title under Fabio Capello. And Stefano Pioli's side are top of the table with maximum 12 points, three ahead of Atalanta who fell to third-placed Napoli, who are equal on eight points with Juventus. -AFP