Junior Messias scored a brace on his first AC Milan start as the Rossoneri thrashed Andriy Shevchenko's Genoa 3-0 on Wednesday to close the gap to Serie A leaders Napoli to one point.

Milan came into the game looking for an improvement after back-to-back league losses to Fiorentina and Sassuolo, and they took control early on at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris when Zlatan Ibrahimovic fired home a 10th-minute free kick.

"Today I did the best I could. These guys make me enjoy myself and make me feel young," Ibrahimovic told Sky Italia.

"Unfortunately we lost the last two games but the season is still long. There are ups and downs over the year."

Brazilian winger Messias, who scored the winner against Atletico Madrid on his Champions League debut last week, was named in Stefano Pioli's starting line-up for the first time and marked the occasion in style by scoring either side of halftime.