Man Utd win EFL Cup Final: Three things we learned
Darren Richman was at Wembley for ITV News. Here are the three things he learned from the EFL Cup Final:
1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a force of nature
At the EFL Cup Final at Wembley, the imperious Swede scored his 223rd and 224th goals since turning 30. Jose Mourinho was asked before the match whether the player is as good now as he was during their time together at Inter Milan. The response was unerring: “He’s better.”
When one thinks of the struggles of strikers in their later years, even the great ones, Ibrahimovic is a glorious anomaly. With his side up against it against Southampton, he took it upon himself to take the free-kick from distance that Paul Pogba was quite clearly eyeing up. The result was the striker’s 25th goal of the term, a stunning effort that was nothing less than the Manchester United talisman deserved for a remarkable debut season in the country. At the game’s conclusion, with Southampton looking for all the world like the team most likely to nick it, there he was again with the telling contribution.
Once upon a time, the established wisdom seemed to be that the iconic forward couldn’t cut it against English opposition. Even a remarkable hat-trick against England that culminated with an outrageous overhead kick that embarrassed Joe Hart wasn’t quite enough to dispel that particular myth. During his first year in England, that one has been put to bed once and for all and he has given hope to every footballer who’s ever hit 30 and assumed it was the beginning of the end.
2. Jesse Lingard loves scoring at Wembley
Lingard is an unusual figure. A local lad and one the United supporters are eager to see do well, he has a tendency at times to flatter to deceive. United were being outplayed at Wembley and overrun in midfield and the notion that he might come off for Michael Carrick at half-time looked a pretty decent bet. Then, for the third time in as many appearances at the venerable stadium, Lingard popped up with a goal. He was eventually replaced, however, by Marcus Rashford, just moments after squandering a chance to win the game.
Goals in the FA Cup final, Community Shield and now the League Cup final for the Warrington man and yet his overall game still patently needs work. Not just goals but fine strikes indicative of an intelligent footballer. Someone like Mark Hughes, for instance, was a big game player who excelled against most opposition whereas Lingard seems to almost exclusively find the back of the net at Wembley. Whether such an ability is enough to sustain a career at United remains to be seen.
3. The League Cup delivers the goods
Perhaps it’s the constant name changes, from Rumbelows to Carling and everything in between, or maybe it’s the relative youth of the competition but the League Cup has often been seen as the FA Cup’s inferior younger brother. The penchant for the managers of the bigger clubs to rest key players in early rounds hasn’t helped and yet this lack of expectation has sometimes led to more compelling finals than the much-vaunted FA Cup.
Sunday’s final was a breathless affair that saw Mourinho’s side take a 2-0 lead against the run of play before Manolo Gabbiadini’s goals either side of half time saw Southampton draw level. Admittedly United’s FA Cup final victory over Crystal Palace in May was a compelling affair but this was the exception rather than the rule. On Sunday, with Southampton desperate to secure major silverware for the first time since 1976 and Mourinho determined to show his side are heading in the right direction, the result was an open, entertaining game.
Ibrahimovic settled the final at the death and, while United weren’t exactly worthy winners, the match was the kind of spectacle Wembley finals so rarely prove to be.