A look at Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s disappointing performance for Manchester United against Bournemouth

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It was another frustrating Premier League match for Manchester United as they once again dropped points to a side in the bottom half, drawing 1-1 with Bournemouth on Saturday. The south coasters were determined and defended admirably, but this will go down as two points dropped for the home side. They remain in sixth position and they are now three points away from the Champions League places. Although they have been good in recent weeks, they must become more clinical in front of goal if they are going to climb the table. On Saturday, they played against ten men for over half of the match and couldn’t manage to find a breakthrough. It was an afternoon to forget for the EFL Cup winners.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has gone from hero to zero in less than a week. He was excellent at Wembley in the EFL Cup final, scoring twice to help his side lift the trophy. However, he was the villain on Saturday against Bournemouth, as he missed a penalty and was involved in both controversial incidents in the game. The Swede is normally reliable from the spot, but Artur Boruc produced an excellent stop to deny him. That said, a player of his quality needs to be taking that opportunity, especially considering the match situation at the time.

Everybody knows that the 35-year-old is no stranger to controversy and he could have been sent off on Saturday. He threw a blatant elbow at Tyrone Mings after the Bournemouth defender seemed to stamp on him minutes earlier. Although it was easy to see why Ibrahimovic was wound up, two wrongs don’t make a right, and he should have seen red just before half-time. Kevin Friend seemed to shy away from making the decision to send the Swedish striker off and it could be that he is handed a retrospective ban.

During the match, Ibrahimovic had seven shots on goal, but he wasn’t at his best and he was a frustrated figure at the final whistle. Bournemouth put their bodies on the line to restrict Manchester United to only one goal. Although the United number nine managed to get plenty of attempts on goal, he lacked the intelligent movement that we have grown accustomed to throughout his career. He was laboured at times and he will want to move on from this quickly.

Despite this being a poor match for the world class striker, he remained a threat and that was evident with his link-up play. He came close to setting up a winner for his side, with an excellent pass to send Paul Pogba on goal, but it wasn’t to be. For all of the praise that has come his way, Ibrahimovic can’t carry Manchester United to the Champions League on his own. He will have off days and today was one of those. It’s important that he puts it behind him and focuses on getting back on the scoresheet during the coming weeks.

There are going to be questions raised about the team selection, with Wayne Rooney coming back into the starting eleven. However, it is Ibrahimovic that will be kicking himself after this one. He had the chance to secure three points and he didn’t take it. United need their other attackers to show more than they currently are. There is a lot of pressure on Ibrahimovic to score goals and he won’t be able to every week. If Jose Mourinho’s side are to finish in the top four, they need the other attackers in the team to stand up and help the 35-year-old out.

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