Manchester United's Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho holds up the trophy as Manchester United players celebrate their victory after the English League Cup final football match between Manchester United and Southampton at Wembley stadium in north London on February 26, 2017. Zlatan Ibrahimovic sealed the first major silverware of Jose Mourinho's Manchester United reign and broke Southampton's hearts as the Swedish star's late goal clinched a dramatic 3-2 victory in Sunday's League Cup final. / AFP PHOTO / Ian KINGTON / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. /
by Steven GRIFFITHS
Mourinho’s side were below par for long periods at Wembley but still ended up with the silverware thanks to the ageless Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Written off by many when he joined United on a free transfer, Ibrahimovic has now scored 26 times this term after striking twice, including the 87th minute winner, to kill off Southampton.
Ibrahimovic’s goals allowed Mourinho to celebrate the 19th major prize of his glittering career.
The 54-year-old is the first United manager to win major silverware in his maiden season at Old Trafford.
He is also only the third manager ever to win the League Cup four times, after lifting the trophy three times with Chelsea.
“I’m a bit emotional, yes. It’s not easy to win titles so many times, it’s not easy to cope with that pressure that I put myself under with my career,” Mourinho said.
“Winning is always special. The day I don’t get emotional when I win is the day to go home.
“It was a game that I was feeling the difficulty. I want to pay the homage Southampton deserve and the only thing I can say is we have the cup in our hands, but probably we should be now playing extra-time.”
Mourinho’s decision to sign Ibrahimovic has paid rich dividends and he was quick to salute the Swedish star, who also played for him at Inter Milan.
“I think Ibrahimovic won the game for us because he was outstanding,” Mourinho said.
“Our opponents were better than us for long periods of the game, they deserved to go to extra-time, they did not deserve to lose over 90 minutes.
“He made the difference and he gave us a cup.”
Southampton could feel hard done by after having a Manolo Gabbiadini goal harshly disallowed with the score 0-0 and hitting the post before Ibrahimovic’s winner.
Saints boss Claude Puel said introducing video technology to decide offside decisions would be a good move in the future.
“I would like the video for the future for this situation but at the moment we are without video. Sometimes there is a bad decision against us, it is important to accept this,” Puel said.
“Congratulations to Manchester United. They were too clinical. But we proved we can play very well with many chances and opportunities.”
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