Bharath Rammr
Even a player like Zlatan Ibrahimovic would have been proud of Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s finish against Sunderland. The amazing backheel goal has become one of the contenders for the goal of the season straight away. Mkhitaryan has been in stunning form over the last few weeks, and his form has coincided with United finally managing to find the kind of results that would make them title contenders in any other campaign. For the time being, it has helped the club close the gap on Tottenham and stay in touch with the top four.
Mkhitaryan was hugely overlooked by Jose Mourinho in the early part of the campaign, and it was a surprise to many considering that United had paid more than £ 30 million for his services from Borussia Dortmund. The 27-year-old has scored in three out of the last three matches, but his goal against Sunderland was by far his best. Yet, it does not seem to have amazed striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Staying in his modest self, Ibrahimovic said that Mkhitaryan may have scored a great goal with his heels, but he remains as the God of heel. Zlatan was quoted by ojogo saying,
“Mkhitaryan is the king of the heel, but I am the God of the heel.”
Ibrahimovic managed to continue his incredible run of form by scoring a brace against the league’s strugglers. He is now just one behind top scorer Diego Costa with 12 goals. The return of 12 goals in the 17 matches certainly seems to have repaid the faith shown by Jose Mourinho when Manchester United made a free transfer acquisition in the summer. Even though Ibrahimovic is on more than £250,000 per week in terms of wages, he has certainly proved much more value than Wayne Rooney at the moment.
United have now managed to win the last five games. Even though the lack of a clean sheet against Sunderland would have been a disappointing element – especially after conceding a late goal, Jose Mourinho is likely to be extremely happy with the club’s current performance. He has managed to sort out every element of the pitch one by one.
Paul Pogba has been playing breath-taking football and is certainly looking every bit of the world class player signed for £89 million. At the back, United may be without the likes of Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling, but they are giving very little away. With the proposed signing of Victor Lindelof expected to go through in the next few days, United’s defence will become even stronger as the Swedish defender has been rated as a great prospect. He is set to sign for a figure of £38 million with the fee even raising to £42 million if he manages to meet certain requirements.
