United goal ace Henrikh’s flying backheel is Christmas No1
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:
FORGET for a moment that he was offside. When the ball reached Henrikh Mkhitaryan in front of goal, it was several feet behind the Armenian who was already airborne.
The improvisation was superb, the execution sensational.
Mkhitaryan did the only thing he could, flicking up his right heel to connect with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s cross and send the ball spinning beyond Jordan Pickford into the Sunderland net. The best goal of his life, he called it.
Old Trafford erupted; the kind of guttural roar rarely heard around the place these days.
David Moyes rightly pointed out that Mkhitaryan was more than a yard beyond the last Sunderland defender and clearly offside. It should not have stood.
But it was the kind of impulsive skill, the sort of magical moment that has been in short supply in the years since Sir Alex Ferguson vacated the Old Trafford dugout.
The wow factor was lost under Moyes and then Louis van Gaal as United slipped into mediocrity. Under Jose Mourinho, there is a swagger about them again.
Paul Pogba, the world’s most expensive player, was imperious yesterday.
And Zlatan Ibrahimovic exudes an arrogance not seen here since the days of Eric Cantona. The Swede should have scored more than once, but now has 17 goals for United and two assists.
In Mkhitaryan, the fans have a new favourite.
They roared him on to the pitch just after the hour mark when he returned after two matches out with an ankle injury to replace Jesse Lingard, and he repaid them by scoring for his third game in a row.
Until he and Ibrahimovic struck in the last eight minutes, it has to be said that United’s one-goal lead was rather precarious.
Nor did victory make any difference to their position in the table. Mourinho’s side are still a disappointing sixth — outside the top five at Christmas for only the second time in the Premier League era. The other occasion was under Moyes.
But they go into the last game of 2016 on the back of five straight wins and looking like the team Moyes once dreamt he would fashion at Old Trafford.
This was the Scot’s first return to the club since his sacking in April 2014 and he will have been heartened by how Sunderland performed in the first half.
They played with confidence and no little enterprise, but lost their way after half-time and Fabio Borini’s splendid volley in stoppage time came too late to affect proceedings.
It was the most modest of entrances for the man once proclaimed as The Chosen One. Moyes was last down the touchline to be greeted by a handshake from Mourinho and mascot Fred the Red, but no one was standing on ceremony.
Certainly not Sunderland, who started brightly.
Victor Anichebe, in particular, was a handful for the United defence. Patrick van Aanholt brought a fine diving save from David de Gea with a curling free-kick from the edge of the box after the Nigerian had been bundled to the ground by Daley Blind.
De Gea then denied Anichebe when the muscular Sunderland striker swivelled to shoot from close range.
But United began to find their rhythm and had a penalty appeal rejected by referee Martin Atkinson when Antonio Valencia floated a pass into the path of Juan Mata, who was sent flying by a barge from Lamine Kone. The Sunderland defender did not appear to be even looking at the ball as it bounced through to Pickford.
The keeper then got a fingertip to Pogba’s curling effort to turn it against the outside of his left-hand post.
Then the France midfielder went close again with a dipping volley over the bar when Papy Djilobodji headed away Blind’s cross to the edge of the box and Sebastian Larsson fluffed his clearance.
United made the breakthrough in the 39th minute at the end of a fine passing move that swept right to left. Ibrahimovic took possession on the edge of the box and waited to slip the ball into Blind’s path. The Dutchman showed neat footwork to take the ball past Jason Denayer before drilling a shot into the far bottom corner. In the second half, Ibrahimovic wasted two opportunities to extend United’s lead, but the Swede was not to be denied. When Pogba intercepted and broke forward with eight minutes remaining, he fed Ibrahimovic, who curled the ball inside the far post.
Mkhitaryan brought Old Trafford to its feet with his collector’s item before Borini produced a memorable goal of his own in the first minute of added time. Marcos Rojo headed away Denayer’s cross and Borini controlled the ball before sending a fabulous volley into the top corner from 25 yards.
17 Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal last night took his Manchester United tally to 17. The Swedish striker has also provided two assists.