Mourinho hails twilight zone Ibrahimovic

WEST BROMWICH, United Kingdom: Jose Mourinho hailed Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the veteran striker scored twice to secure Manchester United a fourth consecutive victory with a 2- 0 win at West Bromwich Albion.

The United manager sang the praises of the evergreen Ibrahimovic after he struck early in each half as United moved alongside fifth-placed Tottenham on 30 points the Premier League table.

“He is doing amazingly well, even in the period when he was not scoring goals,” said Mourinho.

“He is important to us for many more reasons than the goals but in the last two matches he has scored three goals and got us six points in two away matches which is very important.

“I was expecting him to have the impact he has had this season because I knew the reasons he was coming here. He was not coming for the money or the prestige, he was just coming to enjoy his football and to play in the best league in the world.”

The 35-year-old Ibrahimovic has now scored 16 times since joining the Old Trafford club last summer and is flourishing despite being in the twilight of his career.

“I was very lucky in my career because I had a lot of players with enthusiasm and players in the last phase of their career, 35, 36, 37 and they were still magnificent in their attitude,” Mourinho added.

“But he is not just a normal player, he’s in a position where you cannot hide and just play with experience. Amazing central defenders can play until they are really older but as a striker you cannot hide and he’s doing very well.

“We communicate, we exchange ideas at his situation and his feeling and up until now he is feeling great.”

Meanwhile, the Portuguese played down an altercation between Salomon Rondon and Marcos Rojo, which saw the Venezuelan striker appear to slap United’s Argentina international.

“I was happy with the decision, it was correct,” he said. “The referee did fine.”

Mourinho was clearly in a festive mood and ordered his players to throw their shirts to visiting supporters following the final whistle. — AFP

Manchester United’s Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic (right) gets behind West Bromwich Albion’s Northern Irish defender Gareth McAuley to score the opening goal of the English Premier League football match between West Bromwich Albion and Manchester...