A look at Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s performance for Manchester United against rivals Everton

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After serving a three-match suspension, Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to Manchester United’s starting line-up in the fixture against Everton. United have relied heavily on the former Swedish international this season and they had suffered a loss of form without him.

With one draw and a loss in the games United played without their star striker, the Old Trafford faithful fans were hoping his return would provide the spark needed to turn their form around.

Yet, Jose Mourinho was without another star man in Paul Pogba, and the Frenchman’s connection without Ibrahimovic was missed. The pair have played well together all season and it’s often Pogba who finds the feet of his Swedish teammate in order for United to progress up the field.

However, with Pogba only fit enough to start on the bench, Marouane Fellaini took the position of the roaming midfielder. In this role, the Belgian failed to aid Ibrahimovic as his poor movement and passing ability meant the former Paris Saint-Germain striker had to drop deep in order to influence the game.

This left United toothless. With Ibrahimovic deep, when the ball went wide only one of either Marcus Rashford or Jesse Lingard were in the box. Therefore, the whipped crosses provided from Daley Blind and Ashley Young often found an opponents head, resulting in a loss of possession.

Ibrahimovic was effective, if not entirely efficient when he dropped into midfield, ending the game with a passing accuracy of 67%. In the first-half, he made sure United’s fullbacks were heavily involved by finding them with sweeping passes on almost every occasion. The 35-year-old also set Rashford through one-on-one. However, the young Englishman was flagged offside after firing wide.

Paul Pogba entered the fray at half-time as United switched to a 3-5-2 and this forced Ibrahimovic forward. The Frenchman became the man that sprayed the ball around and the Swedish striker pinned himself to the centre-backs, often sizing up Phil Jagielka, as his partner, Ashley Williams, was playing superbly.

Ibrahimovic rarely ventured deep or wide in the second-half and this benefitted United’s attacking play. The 35-year-old had a goal wrongly disallowed as he steered a header under Joel Robles before he equalised from the spot late on.

In the 94th minute, Luke Shaw’s shanked shot hit Williams on the arm and United were awarded a penalty. Ibrahimovic slotted the spot kick away in calm fashion, helping United secure a crucial point. However, the Reds should have taken more from this fixture and Ibrahimovic will be gutted knowing that he could’ve been the match winner had the assistant made the right call.

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Harriet Lander.