Manchester United beat next season's Championship winners Sunderland almost by default at the Stadium of Light earlier today, with goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford (and an assist for José Mourinho via Luke Shaw's body) sealing a rather laborious 3-0 win.
Sunderland were reduced to 10 men a couple of minutes before half time when Seb Larsson received a straight red card for a challenge on Ander Herrera. From there, it was plain sailing for José Mourinho's men, the key word being 'plain' as United cantered to a victory which once would have been considered routine.
The win ended a rotten start to the month for United, who have dropped approximately 127,000 points at home this season due to their being a rather poor side.
Their underachievement under Mourinho was put to top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic ahead of today's game, and the 36-year-old was staunch in his defence of United's manager while incessantly implying that a lot of his teammates are a bit shite.
We have done a good season for the team we have. We won two trophies. The coach is doing absolutely maximum with the team.
Some games you are unlucky, some games you are lucky, some games you do mistakes, some games the mistakes can be accepted but still getting a win... We have to be realistic. He is doing maximum with the team he has. Absolutely. He is doing 200% out of the team he has.
About as subtle as a flying king fu kick towards Phil Jones' face, there, Big Man.
It's not the first time and likely won't be the last that Ibrahimovic has hinted that he's been underwhelmed by some of his fellow United men this season.
One such instance during BT Sport's broadcast of United's 1-1 draw with Everton last week slipped the radar somewhat, as Ibrahimovic essentially declared himself a lion playing alongside pussycats in a typically entertaining interview with a Geoff Shreeves type.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUxHfxSsSR4
There remains a sense that the evergreen marksman will piddle off to America next season as opposed to having to deal with the likes of Marouane Fellaini on a daily basis, but much will surely depend on United's end to the campaign, which features fixtures at Man City, Arsenal and Spurs as well as next week's home tie with champions-elect Chelsea.
[Times UK]
