Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored an 83rd-minute victor as Manchester United beat Leicester 2-1 this morning (NZT) to capture the Community Shield and earn Jose Mourinho his first trophy as the club’s manager. Late on, Ibrahimovic netted the victor with a powerful header to open his account on English soil for the club.
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“I want to dedicate the victory to Louis van Gaal because without him we would not be here celebrating”, said Mourinho.
Jesse Lingard followed up his memorable FA Cup final victor with a fine solo effort to put United ahead, only for a defensive error from Marouane Fellaini to enable Jamie Vardy to equalise. It is a big season for United’s number 14 – who will want to hold onto that right midfield berth following a breakthrough season last term.
“Paul Pogba is a Juventus player until he isn’t, officially, so we stay like this”, Mourinho said of the midfielder, whose 100 million pounds ($130.30 million) move from the Italian side has been heavily trailed by British media.
Summer signing defender Eric Bailly also started and played the full 90 minutes for United, while fellow recruit Henrikh Mkhitaryan was only a late substitute for Juan Mata, who himself was a sub after the hour mark. That’s what it’s all about, winning trophies. This is why I came and hopefully I can win much more than this. Wenger, however, is concerned that the striker’s age – now 34-years-old – could come under scrutiny every time his performance drops.
The Red Devils, who opened up at 8-1 to claim the Premier League, are second favourites at 18-5 to lift the trophy but were not cut further following the Wembley win. “Some who I know can not play for 90 minutes, but of course we are going to try to win it”.
“For me, every trophy is very serious”.
“It’s always hard to get back into rhythm in the first games, with the changes in personnel, but it’s nice to be back”.
LEI vs Man U PredictionBoth the teams need a win and will go for it.
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“That is our first trophy game and that is the first trophy we will bring home”. Ranieri, who has never managed a team at Wembley, of course knew the big clubs were coming for his players; but the likes of Ahmed Musa and Nampalys Mendya will allow him to look ahead. The team is fantastic. “The only one I can compare is Milan, and I’m very honoured and proud to be here”.
