Despite scoring Manchester United’s only goal of the game following a Claudio Bravo/John Stones mistake on Saturday, Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a relatively poor game by his standards.
Unable to impact the game as he usually does, the Swedish striker snatched at a lot of his chances, frustration gradually creeping into his game as time went by.
Still, his finish to capitalise on City’s fumble remained of the highest quality, and the former Paris Saint-Germain star will undoubtedly quickly move on to his next game, which will likely be next weekend’s clash away to Watford (Marcus Rashford is expected to start on Thursday in the Europa League).
Having a few quiet games here and there is natural for a striker, but his ability to impress wherever he goes is what makes him one of the most successful strikers of a generation (lack of Champions League aside), as explained by Julien Féret, 34-year-old Ligue 1 veteran, currently playing for Caen.
Asked in an interview with Goal France who had impressed him the most during all his years in the French championship, the player only had one man in mind.
He said: “The most impressive player, that was Zlatan, especially because of his ability to read the game. Even if he walks at times, you don’t realise that regardless of the ball played to him, he’s capable of taking it down and position himself well.
“Scoring as many goals as he did (in Ligue 1), it’s remarkable. I think he’s the one that impressed me the most.”
One hundred and fifty six goals and 61 assists in 180 games over the course of four years will do that.
