Man Utd 3 - 2 Southampton: ibrahimovich Stars as Manchester United beat brave Saints in EFL cub final

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 25th & 26th goals of the season as Manchester United beat Southampton 3-2 at in the EFL Cup Final at Wembley on Sunday afternoon. 

The Swede scored the game's first and last goal in a topsy-turvy affair which saw Manolo Gabbiadini score twice for Claude Puel's side who were desperately unlucky to lose. 

Jose Mourinho has continued his trend of winning a trophy in his first season with every club he's been at; this was also his fourth League Cup triumph in England. The Portuguese man also tasted a 3-2 League Cup Final success when Chelsea beat Liverpool in 2005. 

​The Red Devils came into the game having being forced into one change from their victory over St Etienne. Jesse Lingard replaced Henrikh Mkhitaryan who tweaked his hamstring in the Europa League tie on Thursday. Puel stuck with the same side that thrashed Sunderland 4-0 at the Stadium of Light 15 days ago. 

Paul Pogba had the game's first chance with four minutes on the clock. The 23-year-old was set up by Ibrahimovic who squared the ball to him just outside the box and he rifled his effort straight at Fraser Forster who parried away to safety. 

4' - First chance for #MUFC as @PaulPogba stings Fraser Forster's palms with a fierce long-range drive. #EFLCup

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 26, 2017

It was Saints who began to play more openly and the games first talking point was to arrive with 11 minutes gone. Ryan Bertrand went steaming past Antonio Valencia and his low cross evaded everyone before Cedric Soares stole the ball from his man. The Portuguese full-back played across to Gabbiadini who tapped in from a few yards and the Italian ran off celebrating. 

His actions were short-lived as Bertrand was a clear yard offside when the original ball was played and Andre Marriner had awarded a Man Utd free-kick, accusing Gabbiadini of being the guilty player. On reflection, it was the wrong decision as the recent acquisition from Napoli was onside. 

11: Argh!@Mgabbia23 thinks he's given #SaintsFC the lead, but the offside flag is up. Keep pushing, lads! [0-0]

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 26, 2017

They felt even more hard done by when Ibrahimovic curled home a wonderful free-kick from all of 25 yards to give Mourinho's side the lead on 19 minutes. Oriol Romeu was guilty of providing the opportunity and the Swede duly obliged. He wrapped his right foot around the ball and it curled into the far right hand corner beyond the reach of Forster. 

Puel's side continued to press and found Spanish No.1 David de Gea in top form. The 26-year-old denied James Ward-Prowse and Dusan Tadic with almost identical saves - both players had long range strikes parried to safety when they were aimed straight at him. 

Things went from bad to worse for Southampton on 38 minutes when Lingard scored his third Wembley goal in as many competitions. A neat exchange of passes down the left hand side allowed Marcos Rojo to come out with the ball and he played in the United graduate who sent a side-footed effort beyond Forster.  

The scoreboard provided grim reading for the Southampton fans who made the journey to London, but they were soon to be celebrating a deserved goal on the brink of half-time. Ward-Prowse sent a fizzing, first-time right-foot cross across the face of De Gea's goal and this time Gabbiadini's tap-in did count. 

Mourinho's side went into the break with the advantage, but the feeling around HA9 was that Southampton had a lot more to offer in the second period and they delivered almost instantly. Redmond had a fierce volley parried behind for a corner and it was time for Gabbiadini to get his 5th goal in three games. 

A Saints corner was helped back in and Gabbiadini used his predatory instincts to turn Chris Smalling and fire his effort beyond De Gea, sending the fans into raptures. The momentum was starting to swing in favour of the Hampshire side who were looking to beat United in a Wembley Cup Final for the second time.  

Romeu almost gave Southampton the lead when his header hit the post on 63 minutes. A corner was whipped in and the former Chelsea man had De Gea beaten, but not the woodwork. 

Then, with just three minutes remaining, Ibrahimovic scored his 26th goal of a quite incredible season. The ball was worked across to Ander Herrera who clipped in the perfect cross for the Swede to seal United's fifth League Cup triumph. 

The #MUFC team for today's #EFLCup final! pic.twitter.com/bdU8zUd2Hp

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 26, 2017

#SaintsFC team to face #MUFC: Forster, Cédric, Yoshida, Stephens, Bertrand, Romeu, Davis (c), Ward-Prowse, Tadić, Redmond, Gabbiadini. pic.twitter.com/DucLzHiixW

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 26, 2017