Ibrahimovic takes just 190s to make United mark

GOTHENBURG — New signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored an acrobatic scissor kick within 4min of pulling on a Manchester United shirt for the first time in a 5-2 friendly rout of Galatasaray on Saturday.

The superstar forward, who moved from Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the summer, was finally unleashed by new manager Jose Mourinho in Gothenburg in his native Sweden. He had hardly broken a sweat when, after just 190s, Antonio Valencia swung over a deep cross and Ibrahimovic launched a right boot at it.

It was not the cleanest of volleys, but it was enough to bounce onto the ground and into the top left corner to deceive Fernando Muslera in the Galatasaray goal.

Wayne Rooney scored a penalty in a second-half brace, while Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata were also on the scoresheet as United came on strong after half-time.

“We have something big going on. It looks very interesting,” Ibrahimovic, 34, told Swedish television afterwards. United are tight-lipped about talks with Juventus and France midfielder Paul Pogba, with the British media speculating a mega-money move could be close. “Let’s see if Pogba will also (come), then it will be even more interesting,” added Ibrahimovic.

Mourinho played down the victory over Galatasaray, ahead of their season opener on August 14 at Bournemouth, and refused to single out Ibrahimovic for his fast start in United colours. “We are going to play 60 matches (in a season) — you cannot do it with 11 players,” said the United boss. “To be in this squad, you have to understand the squad is more important than any individual, the club is more important than all of us.” AFP