A look at Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s dominant display for Manchester United at Sunderland

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Sunderland’s defence is some way off being one of the strongest in the Premier League, but even so, this weekend saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic give one of the most complete performances of any centre forward in Europe as the 35-year-old humiliated his opposition at the Stadium of Light with a strong, confident and match winning display.

With Sunderland opting to sit deep and limit United to shots from distance, it was a frustrating first half an hour for the visitors as they desperately sought to find a way through. Time and time again this season, when they have needed a bit of magic to spur them on to victory, they have looked to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and that was the case again on Sunday.

Turning on the edge of the box, the striker unleashed a powerful effort into the far corner leaving goalkeeper Jordan Pickford stranded with no chance of getting anywhere near the decisive shot which opened the scoring and, at the time, looked like it could have opened the floodgates.

That wasn’t quite to be, but Ibrahimovic did continue to show his quality as he rolled back the years. Between them, central defensive pairing Jason Denayer and Lamine Kone managed to win just one aerial challenge all afternoon, whilst the Swede managed three all by himself in a stat which reflected the power which he exuded in the final third.

If that wasn’t enough, he added an assist to his game in the final moments as he linked up well with young substitute Marcus Rashford before playing him in to rifle past Pickford to wrap up the victory with a third goal to ensure that United would head back to Manchester with another three points to add to their chase for the top four.

Whilst Ibrahimovic has been vital to United’s hopes this season, there remain doubts over his future beyond the summer, and given just what an important player he should to be against lowly Sunderland, there may be cause for concern for Red Devils fans if he does decide to leave in the summer.

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