Jose Mourinho insists Manchester United’s performances this season haven’t been adequately rewarded in terms of points, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s superb late winner means he’ll have no such complaints on this night.
United were very impressive in the 2-1 victory at Selhurst Parkand while they relied on some late magic to clinch the win, that was always their trademark during the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
The game looked to be heading for a draw after James McArthur had cancelled out Paul Pogba’s opening goal, but the former Juventus man set up Zlatan Ibrahimovic with just two minutes remaining to see United snatch the win.
Ibrahimovic’s goal wasn’t the most spectacular of his career, but it was a truly outstanding centre-forward’s goal. Paul Pogba received the ball in an inside-left position, turned past Yohan Cabaye with such force that the Frenchman fell to the floor, and slipped a straight through-ball in behind the defence.
Ibrahimovic made the right run, raced onto the ball, glanced over towards the goal to see Wayne Hennessey advancing, and from a tight angle, he brilliantly clipped the ball over the diving goalkeeper and just inside the far corner.
United were the better side for long spells here. Their opener came from a set piece in first-half stoppage time. Juan Mata’s delivery wasn’t great, but Ibrahimovic cleverly shuffled his body into a position where he could chest the ball goalward, and Pogba was first to the loose ball, smashing home from close range.
United deserved their 1-0 half-time lead although were then guilty of dropping their level of intensity. But this was largely what Mourinho wants from United: control in midfield, the defence well-protected and clever passing moves between their technical attacking players.
They needed to wait until the 88th minute for the winner, after Mata had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside, but there was much to admire about this performance.
The victory is the second in a row for the Red Devils, who had previously drawn three consecutive matches to fall well behind in the title race.
Another draw would have seen United move further away from Champions League qualification, and Mourinho was clearly relieved to see his side pick up another three points.