At 41, Ibrahimovic becomes oldest Serie A goalscorer

AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic became the oldest scorer in Serie A history, although his side lost 3-1 to Udinese.

Ibrahimovic, 41, scored a retaken penalty at the end of the first half after his first effort had been saved by home goalkeeper Marco Silvestri.

It was the Swede’s first goal since returning from a serious knee injury.

But Udinese scored through Roberto Pereyra’s low shot, a goal from Beto in first half injury-time before Kingsley Ehizibue added a third on 70 minutes.

Ibrahimovic helped Milan win the Serie A title last season before needing surgery in the summer on an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

He only returned to action in February and made three substitute appearances before he started this match to become Milan’s oldest captain.

Ibrahimovic then had the chance to secure another record when Jaka Bijol was adjudged to have handled the ball following a video assistant referee check.

However, Ibrahimovic’s original penalty was saved only for it to be retaken following encroachment from the hosts and he blasted in his second opportunity.

That took the striker, aged 41 years and 166 days, past the record held by Alessandro Costacurta (41 years, 25 days) as the league’s oldest ever goalscorer.

The hosts had scored after only six minutes with Pereyra’s shot into the corner before Ibrahimovic’s equaliser, with Udinese coach Andrea Sottil sent off for arguing against the retaken penalty.

But Udinese regained the lead minutes later with Beto scoring from Isaac Success’ pullback and Ehizibue sealing the victory after good work from Destiny Udogie, on loan from Tottenham.

The defeat leaves AC Milan fourth, with Udinese up to eighth.

Nevertheless, Ibrahimovic’s return to the starting line-up will be a massive boost for Milan, who face Serie A leaders Napoli in a two-legged Champions League quarter-final in April.