Ageless Ibra gives Milan winning start

AC MILAN’S veteran forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice and missed an open goal as he secured a 2-0 win over Bologna to get their

Serie A campaign off to a winning start yesterday.

The 38-year-old broke the deadlock with a towering header in the 35th minute and added the second with a penalty – the first in Serie A this season – five minutes after the break.

Milan extended their unbeaten run to 15 games in all competitions as they started where they left off last season, suggesting they are capable of battling for a Champions League spot.

“If I was 20-years-old, I’d have scored another two,” said Ibrahimovic, who has 14 goals in 22 matches since returning for a second stint at Milan in January.

“I don’t want people to talk about my age, I want to be treated the same as everyone else. It doesn’t matter if I am 38, I want to be treated like someone aged 20 and do the same work.

“I’m like Benjamin Button, born old, but I’ll die young. Seriously, the team has worked well: you can see we’re not at 100% yet, but it was important to start well.”

Ibrahimovic grabbed the opener in the 35th minute and celebrated in front of the 1,000 spectators allowed into the San Siro for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic mostly invited frontline health workers who had toiled during the worst of the crisis.

The Swede missed a chance for a second shortly after but six minutes after the break he got his brace from the penalty spot.

Bologna coach Sinisa Mihajlovic added that Ibrahimovic was the difference between the sides.

“They had Ibrahimovic and we didn’t,” he said. “Everything they created came from him. Apart from that, it was an even match.

“Maybe we didn’t believe in ourselves enough, but the lads were in it to the end, we created two big scoring opportunities.” Reuters/AFP