“It was a hard game”, Ibrahimovic told Sky Sports.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic was able to maintain his reputation for scoring in a first game in a new league.
Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney’s goals had earlier put the visitors in command as manager Jose Mourinho, and Ibrahimovic, enjoyed winning starts to their United careers.
But seconds later the Swede added to his debut goal in preseason and his goal in the Community Shield win over Leicester with another on his Premier League bow. Everything is new for me.
“We have made a real statement bringing in four great signings and the new manager. And if I play where I played today I’ll score goals”.
Sunday’s away performance at the Vitality Stadium was certainly an encouraging one for the start of the Mourinho era, particularly after derby rival and title favorite Manchester City scraped a 2-1 win over Sunderland on Saturday. David De Gea needed to show his ability in order to keep a lead in order, but United did lead 3-0 before the Southerners got a goal back, and had plenty of time to feel comfortable in their lead.
Simon Francis’ pass back to Artur Boruc was short and enabled Mata to intercept – Boruc smothered the initial effort but the ball then rebounded back off Francis and Mata rolled into an empty net.
Jose Mourinho couldn’t have wished for a better start to the Premier League season, with a convincing three points against Eddie Howe’s side.
Antonio Valencia broke down the right side and sent over a cross for Martial, who hopelessly miscued his volley. You have to forget his passport, you have to forget he is 34 years old because the body and the mentality is not that of a 34-year-old guy.
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As for the man himself, Fellaini was delighted to start the season with a win, and says he’s determined to prove that “United are back”. News stories displayed here appear in our category for Sports and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form. Doing so may result in civil and/or criminal penalties. Bailly, despite his successful debut, is going to face more hard challenges, and is also going to see some adjustment period after arriving from Villarreal.
