Ibra trickery pushes Milan clear

A touch of brilliance from Zlatan Ibrahimovic earned Milan a 1-0 win over Fiorentina last night to lift them four points clear at the top. One week after he had sunk Inter, Ibrahimovic once again proved the match winner.

On 45 minutes, with his back to goal, the Swede flicked the ball up to execute an acrobatic bicycle kick which totally flummoxed Fiorentina keeper Artur Boruc, the ball thudding into the top far corner.

Milan thought they’d won a penalty in the 23rd minute after Per Kroldrup collided with Mathieu Flamini in the box, but the referee turned down their appeals. Then on the half hour Boruc, standing in for long term injury victim Sebastien Frey, two-fisted Clarence Seedorf’s shot out of danger.

With coach Massimiliano Allegri fielding his three-pointed midfield formation of Gennaro Gattuso, Massimo Ambrosini and Flamini, Milan, the goal aside, never produced dream football but were nevertheless solid and good for the three points.

They maintained their dominance after the break, holding out to move onto 29 points.

Lazio are placed second on 25 points but can cut the deficit to one point if they get a result at Parma today.

Roma go third

Earlier, a Jeremy Menez-inspired Roma beat Udinese 2-0 to move into provisional third place ahead of the remainder of the weekend’s action.

Menez scored a superb solo goal in the 24th minute before setting up Marco Borriello for Roma’s second in the 56th minute to wrap up the points for the capital club.

The France international’s key interventions enabled Roma to notch up their fifth victory from their last seven games in the Italian top flight.

Serie A

Roma 2
Menez 24; Borriello 56;
Udinese 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 38,000.

Milan 1
Ibrahimovic 45;
Fiorentina 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 47,549.
Red card: Kroldrup (F) 90.

Playing today: 15.00 Brescia vs Cagliari; Catania vs Bari; Cesena vs Palermo; Chievo vs Inter; Genoa vs Juventus (12.30); Lecce vs Sampdoria; Napoli vs Bologna (20.45); Parma vs Lazio.

Next fixtures
Saturday: 18.00 Sampdoria vs Milan; 20.45 Juventus vs Fiorentina.
Sunday: 12.30 Inter vs Parma. 15.00 Bari vs Cesena; Bologna vs Chievo; Brescia vs Genoa; Lazio vs Catania; Sampdoria vs Milan; Udinese vs Napoli. 20.45 Palermo vs Roma.

Serie B

Ascoli 0 - Varese 0
Atalanta 2 - Crotone0
Cittadella 3 - Piacenza 0
Frosinone 0 - Pescara 0 (suspended 45 mins, waterlogged pitch)
Grosseto 3 - AlbinoLeffe 3
Livorno 2 - Empoli 1
Portogruaro 1 - Siena 4
Sassuolo 0 - Triestina 0
Torino 3 - Modena 2

Standings: Novara 33; Siena 31; Atalanta 30; Reggina 28; Empoli 25; Padova, Livorno, Torino 24; Varese 23; Crotone 22; Pescara, Vicenza, Modena 19; Cittadella 18; Triestina 17; Frosinone, AlbinoLeffe 16; Ascoli, Piacenza, Grosseto 15; Portogruaro 14; Sassuolo 13.