Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a big-game player, and the Manchester United striker proved it once again with a brace, including a late goal in the EFL Cup final against Southampton on Sunday. The Red Devils might not have been at their impressive best, but Jose Mourinho and his team showed great character and determination to win the title at Wembley.
Are United ready to sell David de Gea?
Southampton were left heart broken with the result after playing some quality football in the EFL Cup final. After going two goals down, Southampton's Manolo Gabbiadini scored a brace to bring back the Saints into the game. To be fair, they were the better side, but what it matters is the final scoreline of 3-2, which read in favour of Manchester United. Overall, it was a brilliant 90 minutes of entertaining football.
Southampton started the game on a bright note, playing with intent, and looked a threat while moving forward. Southampton were playing that pacy game, which United were not able to cope in the first ten minutes. Red Devils were lucky not to go one goal down as Gabbiadini's close range shot was disallowed by the assistant referee for offside. However, replays suggested that the decision was wrong.
Eight minutes after that controversial disallowed goal, Ibrahimovic found the back of the net with a beautiful curling free-kick in the 20th minute to take 1-0 lead.
Despite that goal, Southampton were the better side, and were pressing for the equaliser, and Ward-Prowse also went for a shot from long range, but David De Gea dived to his right to make a good save in the 28th minute. The goalkeeper was once again called into action, but Dusan Tadic's shot was stopped quite easily.
Though Southampton looked a better unit in the first 35 minutes, they could not score. However, it was United, who doubled their lead with some beautiful team play - started in the left flank, which was finished off by Jesse Lingard in the 38th minute.
Southampton deservedly got one goal back before the first half came to an end as Gabbiadini slotted the ball home from six yards.
The Italian, after the break, only took three minutes to score his second goal of the night to make it 2-2. It was a sublime strike from Gabbiadini, who has already proved to be a great signing for the Saints. That second goal lifted the Southampton supporters, who were looking for their first major trophy since 1976.
After the goal, Manchester United looked much more competitive, but the Saints were a team on a mission, playing some good football whenever they had the ball on their feet. They came agonisingly close to taking lead, but Oriol Romeu's header struck the post to deny Southampton that all-important goal.
In the last 20 minutes or so, Pogba and Ibrahimovic were combining well to threaten Southampton's back four, who looked solid. With United enjoying decent spell, Lingard should have scored in the 76th minute when he got a clear chance, but he hit it well over the bar. That was the last action for Lingard, who was replaced by Marcus Rashford, who forced Fraser Foster to make a save few minutes after coming on.
With three minutes left on the clock, one thought that the EFL Cup final will head into the extra-time, but Ibrahimovic had some other plans, as the striker broke Southampton fans' hearts with a brilliant header to help them win the title in the dying minutes.
This win has given Mourinho his first major trophy as Manchester United gaffer, and the former Chelsea boss also became the third manager after Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough to win the League Cup four times. Mourinho had won the title three times with Chelsea.
