Florence, November 21 (BNA): Fiorentina inflicted their first defeat in the Italian league this season with a 4-3 victory in Florence on Saturday, as Dusan Vlahovic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice in the second half.
Goals from Alfred Duncan and Ricardo Sabonara gave La Viola a comfortable first-half lead, and the match looked like a competition when Vlahovic made it 3-0 after the hour.
Ibrahimovic, however, had other ideas, pulling one back quickly with a strong finish before firing into the net again five minutes later.
The Swede, at 40 years and 48 days old, became the oldest player to score multiple goals in a Serie A match, and the third-oldest player to score in the league behind Alessandro Costacurta and Silvio Piola, the Associated Press reports.
Vlahovic scored his second goal late before Lorenzo Vinotti scored his own goal in the last minute.
“We must feel the pain of this defeat, but I am still convinced that I have a very strong squad,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli told Sky Italia.
“A loss always hurts, as is the case with four goals. Perhaps we could have gone back without the fourth goal.”
The result raised Fiorentina to sixth place with 21 points and left Milan in second place with 32 points.
Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi told DAZN: “This victory means a lot to our self-esteem, we haven’t won a big game yet. We made some mistakes, but we got it right.”
The Rossoneri, along with Napoli, achieved a fierce rhythm at the top of the table in the opening 12 rounds, collecting 32 points from a possible 36.
But they faced an uphill battle in Florence from the moment goalkeeper Ciprien Tatarusano kicked a corner into Duncan’s path to enter after 15 minutes.
Milan reacted well as Sandro Tonali and Rafael Leao salvaged their efforts and Ibrahimovic headed wide from the goal, but were held back by a curling ball from Sabonara in injury time in the first half.
Valhović turned the keeper to fire in Fiorentina’s third goal after the break, but Ibrahimovic responded with a quick double, pounce on the rebound to hit the net for the first time before encountering a low cross on the second goal.
Fiorentina absorbed the pressure and added a fourth goal five minutes before the end of the match when Vlahovic found the bottom corner.
Ibrahimović again shared third place for Milan, with his header hitting the crossbar and bouncing off the unfortunate Finotti into his own net.