SAN FRANCISCO, October 29, (THEWILL) – An uncharacteristic missed penalty by Zlatan Ibrahimovic did nothing to the AC Milan team as they cruised to a 3-0 win over Sparta Prague in their UEFA Europa League Group H match on Thursday.
In the opening exchanges of the game, Ibrahimovic, on two different occasions, went close with headers as Milan started brightly.
In the 24th minute, he was there again, playing a pivotal role in the Italian side’s opener. He slid the ball across goal for Spanish winger Brahim Diaz to cut inside and shoot underneath Czech keeper Milan Heca for his third goal of the season.
Moments later, Heca was called into action for a sweeper’s role as he raced off his line to deny Rade Krunic, the central midfielder from Bosnia and Herzegovina for Milan.
Then, the golden opportunity came for Ibrahimovic to truly extend Milan’s lead when David Lischka, Czech centre back, was adjudged to have pulled the Swede back inside the box. But, Ibrahimovic wasted the chance, clipping his spot-kick against the crossbar.
Ibrahimovic was substituted at half-time and the Portuguese Rafael Leao entered to take his place. Leao could have scored after being played through by Sandro Tonali just four minutes into the second half. Heca was having none of it.
Leao did finally get the better of the Sparta goalie shortly before the hour mark. It came from a sumptuous low ball across the penalty area from the outside of Diogo Dalot’s foot for Leao to stroke home from close range.
The Portuguese right back Dalot then added one of his but a third for Milan in the 66th minute. It was a deflected pelter from 20 yards that crept inside Heca’s right-hand post to seal Milan’s routine victory.
Milan have now won nine of 10 games in all competitions this season, with this latest triumph moving them onto six points at the summit of Group H – two ahead of second-place Lille.
Milan will visit Udinese on Sunday for their domestic competition, while Sparta do not play again until they travel to Celtic in Group H next Thursday.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
