POGBA CRUISES INTO OVERDRIVE

Dazzling French ace hits top gear and inspires United to another four-goal triumph

THERE is undeniable power and more than a hint of swagger about the Manchester United team Jose Mourinho is constructing — and Paul Pogba personifies both of those characteristics.

‘What a waste of money,’ chanted the United fans jubilantly and ironically about the man who was once the most expensive player in the world, back in the days when £90million was a significant fee.

Yesterday, he was the dominant midfielder, driving United on to a convincing victory with subtlety and muscularity.

Pogba with Nemanja Matic, whose move from Chelsea has the potential to develop into one of the pivotal moments in the changing balance of Premier League power, give United a durability which was lacking last season.

In the last 10 minutes, when Swansea finally capitulated in a game in which they had previously held their own, United were unstoppable, with three goals in four minutes.

At the heart of it was Pogba, along with Romelu Lukaku, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial.

And yet the Frenchman was also fortunate not to have thrown it all away on 31 minutes, when a tense minute ensued as referee Jon Moss considered the late challenge he had made on Martin Olsson, just five minutes after he had been booked for chopping Tom Carroll.

Whatever Mourinho said later — ‘No, I wasn’t worried, because I didn’t even think the first one was a yellow card’ — he seemed poised, standing on the edge of his area for another confrontation as he waited for Moss, the man who has twice sent him to the stands, to make his decision.

Yet the referee relented, issued a stern warning and Pogba thrived.

It was put to Mourinho that it was 1907 when United last scored four goals in both of their opening games. He was unimpressed.

‘I prefer to say we start last season with two matches, six points and we finished sixth,’ he said. ‘That’s not a lesson, it’s a reality of football; two matches are not the end of the world for people who lose and it’s not paradise for people who win.

‘I am happy and the quality of the performance gives me even more confidence. The word that better describes the team now is confident.

‘I don’t want to see the team losing but I want to see the way we react to it emotionally because it’s another challenge, losing and trying to change the result.

‘At this moment, everything is going in our favour. But it’s not always motorway, you can find difficult roads and roadworks, so we have to be ready.’

Admirably, Swansea manager Paul Clement did not clutch at the Pogba incident as a fig leaf behind which to hide.

‘If I was in Jose’s position, and the player was sent off then for a second yellow, I would have though it harsh,’ he said.

Clement could justifiably take some pride in the first 80 minutes of the performance, especially given that Swansea have sold their best player in Gylfi Sigurdsson and are missing Fernando Llorente and former Celtic midfielder Ki SungYueng.

‘We were still very much within the game until their second goal. So, we must not let our confidence get affected,’ added the manager.

That said, Swansea are still without a goal and desperately need to spend money and keep Llorente.

They did come close here, on four minutes with Eric Bailly’s misjudgment allowing Jordan Ayew a clear run down the left.

Tammy Abraham waited but Ayew had an alternative, curling the ball goalwards off the inside of his foot to see the ball rebound off the crossbar.

But Abraham and Ayew combined well and Swansea’s first-half positional discipline impressed, with Carroll, Leroy Fer and Roque Mesa not allowing United space.

The visitors should have been ahead, though. From a Juan Mata free-kick on 10 minutes, Phil Jones rose above the ball from six yards out but headed against the bar.

United would have their lead on the stroke of half-time. Pogba headed Daley Blind’s corner against the underside of the bar. It rebounded onto the goal-line and Bailly prodded it into the net.

They remained in control but were contained by Swansea until the 80th minute.

Marouane Fellaini’s long pass was touched into the box by Mkhitaryan for Lukaku to finish, a third goal in two games at the start of his United career.

Two minutes later came Pogba’s starring moment. He exchanged passes with Mkhitaryan before lifting it over Lukasz Fabianski.

A minute later, Pogba drove through midfield to release Martial, who cut inside and scored.