Manchester United have broken out of their Premier League slump with a convincing victory over relegation threatened Swansea City.
In a match that absolutely had to go their way, Manchester United pulled through with their first Premier League win in five attempts, thanks to strokes of brilliance from the much maligned duo of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The pair made the match look like a training session for the Red Devils, imposing their will on a lifeless Swansea side in every area of the pitch.
After falling to 8th in the table, the victory comes at a time of turmoil for Jose Mourinho’s side. A loss to Fenerbahce in the Europa League was answered, and Mourinho’s touchline ban did not have much of an effect. While improvements are still there to be made, United have climbed to 6th place, but are still six points behind the final Champions League spot.
There is plenty of time for them to get things together, and the trip to Wales which would usually give Wayne Rooney and company fits, has helped put them back on track.
Pogba’s beautiful early strike put Manchester United on top, and there was no looking back. As Swansea supporters chanted such things as “we want our club back”, United kept pouring it on. Ibrahimovic scored for the first time in his last six appearances, showing that Mourinho’s insistence on keeping him in the starting lineup has paid off. He later added another to complete the brace. The match quickly devolved into an embarrassing first half display by the Premier League’s only Welsh club. For now, that is.
Swansea City’s fall from grace hit quite possibly a new low. The Swans, at least in the first 45 minutes, failed in basic areas of the game, sitting far too deep most of the time and not doing enough to stop Manchester United’s free-flowing attack. The second half was much improved, especially after Jefferson Montero made his return after injury. He gave United fullbacks something to think about as he blazed down the wing, cut inside, and put in several crosses.
Bob Bradley’s side needed a performance that would give fans something to be excited for going forward. After four matches for the American manager, not a lot of hope remains. Swansea still lack shape and have looked to have gone backwards since the sacking of Francesco Guidolin.
It has perhaps taken too much time for Bradley to implement a strong identity and a set philosophy. Or perhaps the team is lacking in talent in many areas. Swansea now find themselves joint bottom with five points in 11 matches. They will travel to Everton after the international break desperate for any sort of result.
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Manchester United, on the other hand, were strong in the final third as well as at the back. The only Swans tally came on a Gylfi Sigurdsson free kick headed in by Mike van der Hoorn. While Pogba and Ibrahimovic may not always perform as well as this on a consistent basis, there is still clearly a long way to go in what seems like a title race that will come down to the final weeks.
The slow start has certainly not been what United supporters were looking for, but the weeks leading up to and including the late December barrage of fixtures will answer a lot of questions about where this team will end up come May.
Manchester United will return from the international break in two weeks to host Arsenal without the suspended Ibrahimovic after he picked up his fifth booking of the season.