Following the mercurial striker’s brilliant form, there may be a new king at Old Trafford.
Manchester United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates scoring their first goal with Marcos Rojo and Marouane Fellaini
As Manchester United defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-1 in the FA Cup, all the talk was of one man, and one man only – Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The 35-year-old scored a sublime effort past Blackburn’s Jason Steele, timing his run to perfection to latch onto Paul Pogba’s long ball, and expertly swivelling to fire home.
That strike was Ibrahimovic’s 24th in 36 games for United since arriving in the summer, and now means the forward has scored in the FA Cup, Copa del Rey, Coppa Italia and the Coupe de France.
Ibrahimovic’s scintillating form has drawn comparisons with United’s last maverick forward, the enigmatic Eric Cantona, but truth be told, Ibrahimovic is a better player and has proved that even at 35, he’s still world class.
Eric Cantona in action for Manchester United
As fantastic and vital as Cantona was to United’s title winning teams in the mid 90’s, Ibrahimovic has been consistently brilliant his whole career, winning league championships in four different countries and scoring goals for fun wherever he’s been. But for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s unworldly brilliance, Ibrahimovic would definitely have a Ballon d’Or to his name.
A league title win in England probably won’t be enough for Ibrahimovic to boot Cantona out of his Old Trafford throne, but the United faithful are adoring the Frenchman’s closest contender.
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