LONDON -- Manchester United beat Southampton 3-2 at Wembley on Sunday in a thrilling EFL Cup Final.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s late winner gave Jose Mourinho’s men a largely undeserved victory as the Portuguese manager won his first major trophy as Red Devils boss.
Here’s what we learned from a pulsating, topsy-turvy encounter.
ZLATAN’S THE MAN
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the man for the big occasion.
He scored a superb free kick and a late header to make it two trophies from two trips to Wembley, as he also scored the winner late on against Leicester City in the Community Shield in August.
At the age of 35 he’s defied belief with his 26 goals this season and is showing the world just how good he is. Mourinho said in the week that Zlatan has got better with age and with 26 goals in 38 appearances he continues to look at home in the PL.
6 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic has now scored six times in his last five domestic cup finals. Update.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 26, 2017
He didn’t have his best game, but the big Swede popped up with two vital goals to win the trophy for his team.
Zlatan is a born winner. It’s just what he does.
GOAAAAL! @Ibra_official is a killer in front of goal and @ManUtd lead with less than 5 minutes of the 90. https://t.co/H6eOfbWFGr
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) February 26, 2017
SLACK UNITED SUCCEED
Somehow Manchester United found themselves 2-0 up against Southampton after 38 minutes. They didn’t deserve it. Not at all. But then again, that’s the sign of a champion.
Southampton should have been 1-0 up after 11 minutes. Cedric cut the ball back from the right flank and Gabbiadini’s goal was chalked out for offside. The Italian striker timed his run to perfection and tapped home. Saints were in dreamland. Well, they should have been. Linesman Stuart Burt put his flag up presumably because he thought Bertrand was interfering with play at the back post. He wasn’t. It was a shocker of a call and ultimately changed the outcome of the game.
Even after going behind to Ibrahimovic’s free kick, Saints did all the pressing. Jesse Lingard put United 2-0 up before the break but United never got a grip on the game as Saints’ wide play bamboozled their full backs. As well as having a perfectly good goal chalked off, Saints also hit the post with Oriol Romeu’s header in the second half.
Those are the kind of breaks which are going United’s way of late, as they’ve now lost just one game in their past 27 in all competitions.
Mourinho must know his team were lucky to get past Saints and lift the trophy. Then again, he’ll argue that the sign of a true champion is digging out a win when you don’t deserve it.
That’s what he is building.
OFFSIDE DENIES GABBIADINI, SAINTS
Manolo Gabbiadini has scored five goals in his first three games for Southampton after joining from Napoli on Deadline Day in January. He should have had six goals in three games and a hat trick in the EFL Cup Final.
The 25-year-old joined without much fanfare for a fee believed to be around $19 million, with the likes of Everton said to be close to signing him back in the summer. In recent months Gabbiadini felt out of favor at Napoli under manager Maurizio Sarri. Gabbiadini’s goal return hasn’t been too impressive with 25 goals in 76 appearances in the last three seasons.
2-2!!!! @Mgabbia23 puts @SouthamptonFC right back in it. @D_DeGea caught staring. What a game! #beINEFLCup https://t.co/BaV2oLzlYK
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) February 26, 2017
His movement was sharp throughout and his finishing sublime. Southampton have done some incredible business in the past few years but he may turn out to be the best of the bunch. This defeat was a bitter one for Saints, but if they can continue to buy players of Gabbiadini’s quality then they’ll be fighting for trophies and top 10 finishes for many years to come.
As disappointed as they’ll be, the future is looking bright for Saints.