Ibrahimovic puts AC Milan back on top

ITALIAN SERIE A:ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC ignored the boos to give AC Milan a deserved 1-0 win over his troubled former side Inter Milan and send the Rossoneri back top of Serie A last night.

The chances of Inter winning an unprecedented sixth successive scudetto were reduced by Ibrahimovic’s fifth-minute penalty after the Swede was recklessly fouled by Inter’s ageing and little-used defender Marco Materazzi.

Ignazio Abate’s second-half dismissal failed to derail Milan’s victory charge and they will now be favourites with most bookmakers to win their first title since 2004, given their six-point advantage over fifth-placed Inter.

Earlier Lazio climbed to the summit of Serie A for a few hours after easing to a 2-0 win over Napoli. Mauro Zarate put the home side ahead in the 15th minute and Sergio Floccari sealed the win after an hour and ended a run of two defeats. Napoli hit the woodwork once and missed several other chances.

Javier Pastore hit a hat-trick as Palermo eased to a 3-1 victory over Catania. Pastore opened the scoring after 33 minutes and added his second just seconds after Christian Terlizzi had struck a 46th-minute leveller. The Argentine completed his treble five minutes from full-time.

Antonio Di Natale scored a first-half hat-trick to fire Udinese to a 4-0 victory over Lecce. He scored in the 11th minute before adding his second before the half-hour mark. The Italy international made it 3-0 five minutes before the break and Antonio Floro Flores hit their fourth in the 55th minute. Lecce’s David Di Michele had his penalty saved by Samir Handanovic in injury time.

Davide Ballardini extended his perfect record as coach of Genoa with a 1-0 triumph at Cagliari. Andrea Ranocchia scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute.

Bologna are out of the relegation zone thanks to Marco Di Vaio’s 58th-minute goal in a 1-0 win over Brescia, who drop into the bottom three. Bologna’s Gaby Mudingayi was sent off late on.

Bari’s plight at the foot of the table worsened as they missed a penalty as Antonio Candreva’s 33rd-minute goal won all three points for Parma. The hosts lost Salvatore Masiello to a straight red card and Massimo Donati to a second booking late on.

Sampdoria and Chievo ended goalless.