Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores 10th goal of the season as Serie A leaders AC Milan end decade-long wait for win at Napoli

Swedish striker forced off with 11 minutes remaining, while Rossoneri coach Daniele Bonera plays down title talk

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates after scoring AC Milan's first goal against Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo on Sunday. Reuters

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates after scoring AC Milan's second goal against Napoli. Getty Images

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic challenges for a header against Kalidou Koulibaly. AP

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic begins his celebrations after scoring the second goal for AC Milan against Napoli. EPA

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic smiles during the Serie A match between Napoli and AC Milan. EPA

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic tries to control the ball under pressure from and Napoli defender Konstantinos Manolas. AFP

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic (C) celebrates with AC Milan teammates Hakan Calhanoglu after scoring his second goal against Napoli. AFP

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates after scoring AC Milan's first goal against Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo on Sunday. Reuters

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic puts in a cross before feeling pain at his left leg that was revealed to be a thigh muscle strain. AFP

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic leans on the advertising hoardings after sustaining a thigh muscle strain. AFP

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic is treated by medical officials. Reuters

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  Zlatan Ibrahimovic walks off injured during the Serie A match between Napoli and AC Milan. Getty Images

Zlatan Ibrahimovic continued his fine start to the season by leading AC Milan to a 3-1 win at 10-man Napoli on Sunday as the Serie A leaders claimed their first victory in Naples for more than 10 years.

Ibrahimovic, 39, powered a bullet header into the bottom corner in the first half before bundling in his second after the break to take his league-high tally to 10 goals in six games this season.

Dries Mertens pulled one back for the home side to give them hope, but a clumsy challenge by Tiemoue Bakayoko earned the Napoli midfielder a second yellow card with 25 minutes left on the clock and Jens Petter Hauge eventually notched Milan's third in stoppage time.

However, there was some cause for concern for Milan after Ibrahimovic was forced off with a muscle problem with 11 minutes remaining. He was pictured sitting on the bench with an ice pack strapped to the back of his left leg.

Milan assistant coach Daniele Bonera, who stepped in for manager Stefano Pioli after he tested positive for Covid-19, was unable to shed any light about the severity of the injury.

“I don’t have much information, he had ice on his thigh and we’ll see in the next few days what the tests say. He isn’t someone who usually comes off the pitch,” Bonera told Sky Sports.

The result means unbeaten Milan retain top spot on 20 points, two clear of Sassuolo in second, four ahead of champions Juventus, and six ahead of sixth-placed Napoli.

It also ended an 11-match winless league run for the Rossoneri in this fixture and marked only their second Serie A victory away to Napoli in the 21st century, the other a 2-1 win in October 2010 in which Ibrahimovic also scored during his first spell at the club.

Milan’s unbeaten run of league form is now 20 games long and stretches back to March, but Bonera refused to be drawn on the possibility of clinching the club’s first Serie A title since 2011 this season.

“We want to stay high up the table but after eight rounds it’s too soon to get carried away," he said.

"There are teams that have invested more than us and that were built to win the league. We weren’t built to win straight away, but we’re growing game after game."