<p>Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice on his first start in two months as AC Milan beat Cagliari 2-0 on Monday to pull ahead of city rivals Inter on top of the Serie A table.</p>.<p>Ibrahimovic, 39, got the first from the penalty spot after seven minutes, adding a second just after the break in Sardinia.</p>.<p>Milan, targeting their first league title since 2011 when Ibrahimovic last played in the team, pull three points ahead of Inter who beat champions Juventus 2-0 in the San Siro on Sunday.</p>.<p>"This victory is a sign above all to ourselves more than Inter," said coach Stefano Pioli.</p>.<p>"We all want to bring Milan back to the top. The team will do everything from here to the end.</p>.<p>"Now we have an important game against Atalanta (Saturday), we focus on that, then in March and April we will see where we are."</p>.<p>Ibrahimovic proved he has returned to his best after injury, with the club set to sign former Juventus and Bayern Munich forward Mario Mandzukic to help their title push.</p>.<p>"Ibra will take care of keeping him (Mandzukic) at bay," joked Pioli.</p>.<p>The Swede brought his tally to 12 goals in eight games with five doubles, including a brace on November 22 against Napoli, when he picked up the thigh injury which sidelined him.</p>.<p>Milan shook of the absences of defender Theo Hernandez and midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu who tested positive for coronavirus.</p>.<p>The visitors quickly took control of the game after Cagliari defender Charalampos Lykogiannis fouled Ibrahimovic.</p>.<p>Ibrahimovic decided to take the penalty ahead of regular spot kicker Franck Kessie after the Swede had missed twice from the spot twice before his injury.</p>.<p>Cagliari goalkeeper Alessio Cragno cleared a long-range Davide Calabria effort after 24 minutes with the Italy defender hitting the post 10 minutes later.</p>.<p>Back after the break Ibrahimovic connected with Calabria's long-range effort finishing off with the goal confirmed after a VAR review.</p>.<p>Milan held their advantage despite playing the final quarter of an hour a man down after Alexis Saelemaekers was sent off for two bookings, ten minutes after coming off the bench.</p>.<p>Cagliari, just above the relegation zone in 17th position, fall to their fifth consecutive defeat on an 11-match winless run stretching back to November 7.</p>.<p>Milan next play sixth-placed Atalanta to keep their push for a 19th 'Scudetto' and return to Champions League football for the first time since the 2013-2014 season on track.</p>.<p>Pioli welcomed the arrival of Mandzukic as "one more weapon".</p>.<p>"I'm happy, the more strong players we have the better," said Pioli.</p>.<p>"I talked to him, he's motivated. Maybe it will take some time for him to get in shape because he hasn't played for a while, but he's a winner."</p>
<p>Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice on his first start in two months as AC Milan beat Cagliari 2-0 on Monday to pull ahead of city rivals Inter on top of the Serie A table.</p>.<p>Ibrahimovic, 39, got the first from the penalty spot after seven minutes, adding a second just after the break in Sardinia.</p>.<p>Milan, targeting their first league title since 2011 when Ibrahimovic last played in the team, pull three points ahead of Inter who beat champions Juventus 2-0 in the San Siro on Sunday.</p>.<p>"This victory is a sign above all to ourselves more than Inter," said coach Stefano Pioli.</p>.<p>"We all want to bring Milan back to the top. The team will do everything from here to the end.</p>.<p>"Now we have an important game against Atalanta (Saturday), we focus on that, then in March and April we will see where we are."</p>.<p>Ibrahimovic proved he has returned to his best after injury, with the club set to sign former Juventus and Bayern Munich forward Mario Mandzukic to help their title push.</p>.<p>"Ibra will take care of keeping him (Mandzukic) at bay," joked Pioli.</p>.<p>The Swede brought his tally to 12 goals in eight games with five doubles, including a brace on November 22 against Napoli, when he picked up the thigh injury which sidelined him.</p>.<p>Milan shook of the absences of defender Theo Hernandez and midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu who tested positive for coronavirus.</p>.<p>The visitors quickly took control of the game after Cagliari defender Charalampos Lykogiannis fouled Ibrahimovic.</p>.<p>Ibrahimovic decided to take the penalty ahead of regular spot kicker Franck Kessie after the Swede had missed twice from the spot twice before his injury.</p>.<p>Cagliari goalkeeper Alessio Cragno cleared a long-range Davide Calabria effort after 24 minutes with the Italy defender hitting the post 10 minutes later.</p>.<p>Back after the break Ibrahimovic connected with Calabria's long-range effort finishing off with the goal confirmed after a VAR review.</p>.<p>Milan held their advantage despite playing the final quarter of an hour a man down after Alexis Saelemaekers was sent off for two bookings, ten minutes after coming off the bench.</p>.<p>Cagliari, just above the relegation zone in 17th position, fall to their fifth consecutive defeat on an 11-match winless run stretching back to November 7.</p>.<p>Milan next play sixth-placed Atalanta to keep their push for a 19th 'Scudetto' and return to Champions League football for the first time since the 2013-2014 season on track.</p>.<p>Pioli welcomed the arrival of Mandzukic as "one more weapon".</p>.<p>"I'm happy, the more strong players we have the better," said Pioli.</p>.<p>"I talked to him, he's motivated. Maybe it will take some time for him to get in shape because he hasn't played for a while, but he's a winner."</p>