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Manchester United had been in a terrible run of form but on Sunday they managed an impressive 3-1 win over a struggling Swansea side, and there was one particular player who stood out.
The last Premier League fixture for United was at home to Burnley where they drew 0-0. The result was so poor because of their poor finishing and one of the biggest culprits of this was summer signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He had been on a bit of a goal drought in recent weeks but his brace against Swansea has helped change that.
As usual, Zlatan wasn’t overly involved in the game, but when he was he was deadly. He took just two shots and both hit the back of the net. He made 1 key pass and 1 dribble. He was involved perhaps more in the build up than usual though, attempting 6 through balls and being accurate with 4 of them. This helped United build sustained pressure in the Swansea half and ultimately lead to the 3 United goals.
But what will make the headlines is that Zlatan scored both the 25,000th Premier League goal and his personal 400th goal of his career. 400 league goals is, as Zlatan said himself, more than some players play games in their entire careers - it’s a pretty remarkable achievement considering he has always played at the highest level. Scoring the 25,000th Premier League goal also means that he will always be remembered in the history of English football despite his (so far at least) short time in the country.
Hopefully for United fans the records he has broken today and the two goals he has scored means that he will return to his best form.
Here’s how fans have reacted to the Swede’s performance on Twitter.
21 mins - The 25,000th @PremierLeague goal ✔️
33 mins - His 400th club career goal ✔️Records were made to be Zlatan'd#MUFC #SWAMUN pic.twitter.com/9tsR76lhcv
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 6, 2016
Wow impressive. Best player in the prem the sultan zlatan wow yes oh wow the best. #legend pic.twitter.com/Rlj6EUicPn
— Muhannad (@Shle5notions) November 6, 2016
Clinical from Zlatan. Just whate expected from him. And Pogba is brilliant!
— Z. (@BigDaveSave) November 6, 2016
United will need Zlatan to be playing at this level consistently for them to have any chance of getting into the top 4 this season, let alone winning the league. He isn’t going to run around loads, but he is a clinical finisher, with a fantastic physical presence. The only negative of his performance against Swansea was that he picked up a yellow card and that is his 5th of the season so far, meaning he will have to serve a 1 match suspension. That match will be after the international break at home to Arsenal - a game he would not want to have missed.
