Serie A: Ibrahimovic sent off as AC Milan win at Parma

Zlatan Ibrahimovic starred before being sent off as AC Milan consolidated their place in the top four with a 3-1 victory at Parma.

It took Milan just eight minutes to break the deadlock when Ante Rebic grabbed his sixth goal of the season with a beautiful strike set up by Ibrahimovic's lovely reverse pass.

Stefano Pioli's side were almost out of sight by the break and Ibrahimovic was involved once more as Franck Kessie doubled the visitors' advantage in the 44th-minute, the Swede holding the ball up to exchange passes with Theo Hernandez, who fed Kessie and he did the rest, finishing from close range.

After a dismal first-half performance, Parma came to life five minutes after the restart and Milan had Gianluigi Donnarumma to thank for a remarkable double save to deny Andrea Conti and maintain the clean sheet.

Milan were forced to play the last half-hour a man light after Ibrahimovic was shown a straight red, presumably for something he said to referee Fabio Maresca in an extraordinary moment in an otherwise tame affair.

And just six minutes later Riccardo Gagliolo halved the advantage to set up a nervy finale. But as Parma committed players forward in search of a last-gasp equaliser, they were caught short defensively as substitute Rafael Leao secured the points with the last kick of the game.

The win - Milan's 13th on the road this term - moves them seven points clear of fifth-placed Napoli and closes the gap on Inter to eight points although their rivals have a game in hand.