Zlatan Ibrahimovic marked his Premier League debut with a goal as Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United tenure began with a convincing 3-1 victory over Bournemouth.
The match was Mourinho’s first Premier League game in charge of United but nevertheless Ibrahimovic arrived as the star attraction on the south coast and the Swede did not disappoint, unleashing a superb long-range strike in the second half. He has now scored on debut in Serie A, LaLiga, Ligue 1 and the Champions League.
Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney’s goals had earlier put United in command before Bournemouth defender Adam Smith added what proved only to be a consolation.
Mourinho has spent almost £150millon turning United into title contenders this summer but with £89million man Paul Pogba suspended and Henrikh Mkhitaryan starting on the bench, it was left to Ibrahimovic to provide the blockbuster appeal.
The 34-year-old has previously plied his trade for Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris St Germain, but the Vitality Stadium, with its raucous 11,464 fans, seemed primed to offer an altogether different type of challenge.
Sloppy touches early on and a clattering from defender Simon Francis offered the hosts room for encouragement, but it is his goals that Ibrahimovic’s success this season will be measured by and he was certainly the pick of the bunch.
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