Zlatan fires United to victory

Man Utd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 2

Southampton . . . . . . . . . (0) 0

MANCHESTER: There may have been a moment, after referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot, when Wayne Rooney fondly imagined he would be taking it. You know, like usual.

And then a giant man with a top-knot calmly collected the ball and placed it on the spot. Rooney lives in Zlatan’s world now. And in Zlatan’s world only one man gets to take penalties.

So Zlatan Ibrahimovic stepped up and stuck the ball, smartly, low to Fraser Forster’s right. It was his second goal of the night and Manchester United were 2-0 up. All was right in Zlatan’s world.

Rooney won’t have minded, whether he was forewarned or not. He has got what he has needed for several years now – a proper goal-scoring foil, a partner who wants to take responsibility, to shoulder as much as share the load.

Ibrahimovic’s first goal was a header from a magnificent cross by Rooney – even if he was given too much room to deliver it – and while the pair keep harmonising like this, United may remain the team to beat in the Premier League title race.

It helps when opponents capitulate as Southampton did, a reasonably spirited performance undermined by a foolish challenge from Jordy Clasie on Luke Shaw, to concede the penalty that locked them out of the game. They did not look like coming back after that, and United could have gone further ahead with a Paul Pogba header after 64 minutes, and break through Anthony Martial a minute later.

Claude Puel, Southampton’s manager, must be sick of the sight of Ibrahimovic. He faced him seven times as Nice manager and in that run Ibrahimovic scored 11 goals for Paris Saint-Germain. In the only game in which he didn’t score, it was his touch that forced a Nice player to put the ball in his own net. – Daily Mail