Three points, three goals and three players showing exactly what they can do. Not a bad afternoon’s work for Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United to get the Premier League season underway.
Returning to a ground on which they suffered an ignominious 2-1 defeat last season, United deposited of Bournemouth 3-1 with the kind of clinical approach that was so sadly lacking for most of the Louis van Gaal era.
And the identities of their goalscorers will have quietened many of the club’s doubters over the summer. With question marks of different types hanging over Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic they all answered with aplomb.Mata’s future at the club was thrown into doubt from the moment Mourinho was linked with the United job. His departure from Chelsea after finding playing time hard to come by under the Portuguese had led him to Old Trafford in the first place, and many immediately decided the two would be unable to work together at United.
But he will forever be remembered as the man to score the first league goal of Mourinho’s United era, pouncing on two separate lucky breaks off Simon Francis to roll home the opener. Aside from the goal, Mata played like a man with a point to prove on the right-hand side of the Reds’ attack. And while it will take more of these afternoons to cement a regular starting place, there was plenty to suggest he has some part to play this term.
Rooney’s position as United talisman and attacking force had been undermined by his drop back to midfield under Van Gaal and his ineffectiveness in that position at Euro 2016 with England, and here at Dean Court it took him 20 minutes or so to get in the game with several balls bouncing off the captain as he took a while to come to terms with the game.
But he eventually grew into it and had a real say in the flow of a far more inquisitive United attack than was in evidence for much of last season - and in getting himself on the end of Anthony Martial’s miss-hit shot to turn home a header justified Mourinho’s decision to promote back to the number 10 position. He has made his name in the penalty area, and when he got in there he converted well.For Ibrahimovic there have been the blinkered onlookers wondering whether he can do the business in the Premier League after racking up goals all over the continent. But his flicked pass to Rooney should have resulted in a United goal early in the second half, and then he delivered a wonderful third to kill the contest.
His low strike from distance beyond Artur Boruc was pure Zlatan, and it instigated a 10-minute long rendition of the new Ibrahimovic terrace chant from the away end. While they will have been impressed enough with his strength, determination, hold-up play and willingness to put his head on the line, a Zlatan pile-driver topped off the supporters’ afternoon in the sun.
Bournemouth might have grabbed a consolation through Adam Smith late on, but this was an otherwise complete performance from Mourinho’s side. It is true that they could move the ball faster at times, and the lack of pacey options out wide may need to be addressed in time. But this was a much-improved Manchester United in the vision of their new boss.
Mourinho was hollering long and loud at his players even in injury time with the result beyond doubt, then shared a clenched-fist salute with excutive vice-chairman Ed Woodward at full-time. He knows there is still a long way to get Manchester United back to where they need to be.
But this was one hell of a start, and he can thank Mata, Rooney and Ibrahimovic for standing up to be counted on an afternoon when the failure to do so would have had some people questioning the validity of the Portuguese’s new dawn.
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