Zlatan the saviour as United fall short again
IT was a horrible mis-hit, nothing more. But Wayne Rooney will take anything right now, even if it’s a lucky assist against a team of Ukrainian underdogs in the Europa League.
Rooney had only been on the pitch for two minutes, after once again being left on the bench by Jose Mourinho, when Timothy Fosu-Mensah’s cross reached him in the 69th minute.
The execution was poor and typical of a player lacking form and confidence. He fired the ball into the turf and it looped up awkwardly towards the far post.
Fortunately for him, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was waiting and leapt high above Mykyta Kamenyuka to meet it with a downward header. Only goalkeeper Oleksiy Shevchenko knows why he was already in the back of his net when the ball crossed the line, but United and Rooney weren’t complaining.
It has not been an easy time for the England captain, culminating in Mourinho dropping him on Saturday when United produced their best display of the season against champions Leicester.
They were significantly less fluent here on another night when this competition seemed an unwanted distraction. ‘Maybe the Europa League is something they’re not that interested in,’ said former United midfielder Paul Scholes. Coming two weeks after a limp defeat by Feyenoord in Rotterdam, it was hard to disagree.
Old Trafford was far from sold out for the occasion, United’s first home game in the group stage of this competition.
There were only 50 Zorya fans in attendance and the away end was partly filled by 2,500 children here on a cut-price ticket scheme.
It gave this match the air of an exhibition game, and not a very WAYNE ROONEY will remain as England captain under caretaker boss Gareth Southgate. The Under 21 manager has spoken to Rooney, 30, as well as England’s assistant coaches, and assured the striker that he will keep the armband. The Manchester United striker will be joined by 18-year-old club team-mate Marcus Rashford in Southgate’s squad to face Malta at home in a World Cup qualifier on October 8 and Slovenia away three days later. good one at that. Indeed, 24 hours after Manchester City had been involved in a barnstorming 3-3 Champions League draw at Celtic, the contrast could not have been greater. Rarely has United’s exclusion from the European elite been more keenly felt.
Ibrahimovic’s winner 21 minutes from time was their first effort on target — and one of just two in total. Up until that point they had struggled to break down a team lying second in their league and forced to play 300 miles away from Luhansk due to the civil war.
In fact, Zorya had the first chance inside the opening five minutes. Winger Ivan Petriak found space down the left and pulled the ball back for Zeljko Ljubenovic, who rather snatched at the opportunity, hooking over Sergio Romero’s bar.
United pressed but Zorya’s intention to hit them on the break was clear and Petriak was at the heart of another sweeping move which ended with Chris Smalling heading Oleksandr Karavaev’s cross away from danger.
United took nearly 20 minutes to produce their first serious effort as Ibrahimovic’s 25-yard shot was deflected by Dmytro Grechyshkin and the ball flew just wide. Juan Mata delivered the resulting corner from the right, Paul Pogba flicked on and Marcus Rashford sent a thumping shot against the underside of the bar and on to the line.
Pogba then picked out Mata with a clever cross that seemed to catch the Spaniard by surprise as he headed wide.
But they were rare moments of excitement in a tepid first half that only served to remind us United are not exactly crazy about this competition.
And they were given a real scare five minutes after the restart when Karavaev got free down the right and floated a ball to the penalty spot, where an unmarked Ljubenovic failed to make contact by a matter of inches. Substitute Paulinho then brought a fine save out of Romero with a curling effort from the edge of the area. That was the cue for Mourinho to summon Rooney off the bench. It brought one of the bigger cheers of the night from a frustrated home crowd.
Two minutes later they were applauding again as Ibrahimovic grabbed his sixth goal in 10 games to put United back in contention in Group A. Whether that is what they want is another matter altogether.
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC spared Manchester United’s blushes with a late winner against Europa League minnows Zorya Luhansk at Old Trafford last night. The Swedish star headed home in the 69th minute to seal a 1-0 win against the Ukrainians — with the goal assisted by substitute Wayne Rooney, who was named on the bench by Jose Mourinho for the second game in a row. The result made it three consecutive wins for United but Ibrahimovic admitted: ‘We could do much more.’