Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored two goals and Paul Pogba netted one to lead Manchester United to a 3-1 road victory over Swansea City on Sunday, as the Red Devils ended a run of four Premier League games without a win.
United dominated from the start, and got ahead 3-0 at halftime. Ibrahimovic, who was signed to the club this summer along with Pogba, had his first two-goal game in the league since September, and made history by scoring the 25,000th goal in the Premier League’s 24-year existence.
Mike van der Hoorn headed in for Swansea midway through the second half, although there was no true danger for the visitors, whose manager Jose Mourinho watched from the stands due to a touchline ban.
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United jumped to sixth in the Premier League table with 18 points, while Swansea– who have now gone 10 league matches without a win– remains second-to-last, only ahead of Sunderland. Liverpool currently leads the league with 26 points, and Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham follow.
Swansea’s terrible performance drew boos from the home crowd and left manager Bob Bradley with only one point from his first four games in charge.
Despite not being on the sidelines, Mourinho made his presence felt with six changes from Thursday’s Europa League loss at Fenerbahce.
Among those recalled was Ibrahimovic, whose attitude the Portuguese manager had praised as “brilliant” despite a weak spell that saw the Swedish forward fail to score in six Premier League matches.
“I wasn’t worried,” Mournho said. “As long as you create the chances, which I have been doing, the goals will come. But the most important thing is the win. The goals will come.”
Pogba, whose stellar strike would have beat almost any goalkeeper, Ibrahimovic’s low drive only found the back of the net because it was met with weak resistance from Swansea goalie Lukasz Fabianski.
Ibrahimovic’s second goal reflected the match, as he pushed aside Angel Rangel’s untidy challenge before sending the ball past Fabianski.
There were faint hopes of a comeback for Swansea when Van der Hoorn headed in from Gylfi Sigurdsson’s free-kick – and things might have been different had Ibrahimovic’s apparent kick at Leroy Fer been punished by more than a yellow card.
United next host Arsenal on Saturday, Nov. 19, while Swansea travel to Everton later that same day.
SWANSEA, WALES – NOVEMBER 06: : Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Manchester United celebrates scoring his sides second goal with Phil Jones (l) during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Manchester United at Liberty Stadium on November 6, 2016 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
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