The Swedish striker spares the blushes of José Mourinho’s side while Paul Pogba is clangingly inept during their 3-2 EFL Cup final victory at WembleyIt is tempting to say Zlatan Ibrahimovic stole this EFL Cup final from Southampton but only if having the craft, skill and bloody-mindedness to drag Manchester United’s misfiring collection of high spec parts across the line really counts as anything other than an act of champion will.What is certain is that United won the first honour of the José Mourinho reboot in the most uneven way, producing a performance at Wembley that clanked and juddered and tripped over its own feet but was still enough to overcome a more fluent Southampton team by virtue of the...
N’Golo Kanté’s impact at Chelsea has been phenomenal but he has not carried his team in the way the brilliant Swede has carried José Mourinho’s UnitedIf all the friends of Wayne Rooney quoted anonymously in the media are to be believed, the striker has not been making much of a secret of the fact that he is unhappy with his present position in the pecking order at Manchester United. It is not difficult to see why. While losing one’s place in the starting line-up is an occupational hazard for a goalscorer in his 30s, it must be galling to lose it to a player who is four years his senior.Yet Rooney can have no real complaint. José Mourinho kept him...
After the 19-year-old Brazilian’s stunning start for Manchester City, we pick out other overseas signings who stormed into the English game and find that a fast start does not necessarily lead to sustained successGabriel Jesus’s stellar start for Manchester City has dislodged Sergio Agüero from Pep Guardiola’s side. The 19-year-old Brazilian, a £27m signing from Palmeiras last month, scored on his full Premier League debut – at West Ham United – and twice in the following game, against Swansea City last Sunday. Here are five other overseas signings who stormed into the English game. Related: Gabriel Jesus affirms Pep Guardiola’s faith in his Manchester City vision Continue reading...
Ibrahimovic achieves statistic of 19 Premier League starts, 13 Premier League goals, showing teenage team-mate how it is done against West HamZlatan Ibrahimovic’s contribution was the garnish rather than the main course but compared with the kind of nourishment he had proposed for some onlookers earlier in the week, it still went down rather well. His had been a supporting part in a Manchester United performance that offered little more than fits and spurts before the game-changing introductions of Marcus Rashford and Juan Mata that terminally stretched West Ham United, but the 35-year-old Swede possesses a knack of having the last word at will. His first goal of 2017 showed once more that time’s passage means little when a showman...
The 35-year-old Manchester United striker downed West Bromwich Albion with a double and is proving he has what it takes to cope in the Premier LeagueAs the final whistle blew at The Hawthorns, Zlatan Ibrahimovic found himself standing in the centre circle with the ball in his hands. Ultimately, he was one goal shy of being allowed to keep it but given how central the player had been to the outcome of proceedings, it was an apt sight on a dark December evening. Related: Manchester United ease past West Brom thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic double Related: Premier League fans’ half-time verdict part 2: Manchester United to West Ham Continue reading...