European roundup: Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores 500th career goal in Milan win
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the 500th and 501st goals of his club career, helping Milan back to the top of Serie A with a 4-0 win over bottom side Crotone on Sunday.
The 39-year-old fired a shot into the top corner in the first half to reach the landmark, more than 21 years after his first career goal for Swedish club Malmo in 1999. He netted 18 times for the Swedish club before spells at Ajax (48 goals), Juventus (26), Internazionale (66), Barcelona (22), Milan (56), PSG (156), Manchester United (29), LA Galaxy (53) and Milan again (27).
Ibrahimovic tapped in his 14th goal in 11 league games after the break, and a double from Ante Rebic sealed a comfortable win for Stefano Pioli’s side. Milan are now two points clear of Inter with 49 points from 21 games. Crotone stay bottom with 12 points, four adrift of safety, while second-bottom Parma lost 3-0 at home to Bologna, Benevento drew 1-1 with Sampdoria and Udinese beat Verona 2-0.
In La Liga, Barcelona winger Francisco Trincão scored his first goal for the club to snatch a 3-2 win away to Real Betis as Ronald Koeman’s side pulled off a second comeback victory in the space of four days.Ronald Koeman took the surprising decision to leave Lionel Messi and the in-form Frenkie de Jong out of his starting lineup and saw his side fall behind to a Borja Iglesias strike on the counterattack in the 38th minute.
Messi levelled for Barca in the 59th, less than two minutes after coming on, and then helped his side find a second goal by releasing Jordi Alba with a sumptuous pass which led to Betis defender Víctor Ruiz sending the ball into his own net.Ruiz made amends by powering in a header from a Nabil Fekir free kick in the 75th minute but Portuguese Trincão had the final say, smashing a shot from just inside the box in off the crossbar in the 87th.
Aixth-placed Real Sociedad closed the gap on fifth-placed Villarreal with a 4-1 win at home to Cádiz, who hadMarcos Mauro sent off. Both Mikel Oyarzabal and Alexander Isak scored twice. Fellow Basques Athletic Bilbao were held at home by Valencia in 1-1 draw.
In France, Paris St Germain claimed a clinical 2-0 win at bitter rivals Marseille Kylian Mbappé and Mauro Icardi found the back of the net in the first half to put third-placed PSG on 51 points from 24 games, three behind leaders Lille and one adrift of Lyon, who also won their matches this weekend. The result left troubled Marseille, who have lost four of their last five games and had Dimitri Payet sent off in the last minute.
Leaders Lille won 2-0 at Nantes. Meanwhile, Aleksandr Golovin’s hattrick and Kevin Volland’s winner helped Monaco to a 4-3 win at Nîmes.
Elsewhere, Montpellier beat Dijon 4-2, St-Étienne did for Metz 1-0 and Nice walloped Angers 3-0.