Staff Reporter.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a bicycle kick in stoppage-time to earn a point for Serie A leaders AC Milan against Udinese, becoming just the third person in the 21st century to score 300 goals across Europe’s top five leagues.
The 40-year-old Swede wasted a glorious chance to open the scoring early on and that miss proved costly as Beto pounced to give Udinese the lead in the 17th minute down the other end.
For all their pressure after the break, Milan created few clear chances and looked to be heading for a third defeat in five league games in Udine.
Former Watford forward Isaac Success was sent off for Udinese in stoppage-time for a foul on Mike Maignan.
The draw moves AC Milan two points clear at the top of the table, though Inter and Napoli could replace them at the summit if they win their games on Sunday.
Ibrahimovic has scored 404 league goals in total in his career, including 16 for Swedish club Malmo, 35 for Dutch giants Ajax and 53 for MLS side LA Galaxy.
Those across Europe’s top five leagues – Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s La Liga, England’s Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1 – now totals 300.
However, he is way behind the goalscoring exploits of Manchester United forward Ronaldo and PSG star Messi, who have scored 483 and 475 league goals respectively.
The former Sweden striker is in his second spell at Milan having also played for Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona PSG and Manchester United in his long and illustrious career.
“Tonight we struggled to play our game,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli told Sky Sport Italia. “We weren’t fluid and precise enough to undo Udinese. We are conceding goals after mistakes. These are things that you pay for and make you lose your flow.
“In the last few games we have lost consistency in the defensive phase with little effect in the pressure phase,” Pioli added. “We have to fix some things at both ends of the pitch.”
The Swede became the third player to score 300 goals in the top-five European leagues since the turn of the century, after Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.