AC Milan bounce back by dominating Shevchenko's Genoa in Serie A

Rome, Dec 2 (IANS) AC Milan bounced back from two consecutive Serie A defeats by beating Geona 3-0 away with a Zlatan Ibrahimovic's free-kick and a Junior Messias's brace.

It was a special game for Genoa's head coach Andriy Shevchenko on Wednesday evening, as the Ukrainian faced his old club for the first time after he took the Grifone job.

Milan was dealt a blow in the opening minutes, as Simon Kjaer picked up an injury and made way for Mattia Gabbia, but it took the lead in the 10th minute as Ibrahimovic curled a free-kick into the net, leaving goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu stranded.

The Rossoneri doubled the lead before the break when Rade Krunic's attempt was blocked, and the ball fell for Messias to score a looping header, Xinhua reports. Messias's brace on the hour mark helped Milan seal the win when Theo Hernandez sprinted down the left and squared for Brahim Diaz, who laid it off for the Brazilian to finish with a low strike.

With the win, AC Milan ranks second with 35 points, one point behind Napoli who fumbled a 2-0 lead and was held by Sassuolo 2-2 on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Lautaro Martinez took the centrestage in Inter Milan's 2-0 victory over Spezia, as the Argentine scored one and set up another, surging the Nerazzurri to register its third consecutive Serie A win.

Also on Wednesday, Roma suffered a 1-0 setback away to Bologna.