Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jose Mourinho bring that winning feeling back to Manchester United as they did just what their reputations promised to KO Leicester at Wembley
Sriker and boss change the club's mood - but the ex-Chelsea chief dedicates victory to sacked predecessor Louis van Gaal
ZLATAN did what Zlatan does and Jose did what Jose does.
The Special One brought Ibrahimovic in to do a job when he signed the forward on a free from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
To score goals for him. To win matches for him. To lift trophies with him. They make a damn good team, that is for sure.
One game in, this is a pretty satisfying start to their careers at Manchester United.
Ibra took care of business at Wembley, steering a calculated late header beyond Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Suddenly, everything is adding up for United.
In Mourinho’s world the Community Shield, a distant fifth in United’s order of priorities, is a marker for the season ahead. They are a winning machine again, beating the champions of England 78 days after lifting the FA Cup against Crystal Palace.
It is a double, of sorts.
To Mourinho’s credit, he dedicated the result to predecessor Louis van Gaal. It was a nice, possibly even genuine, touch.
United are trophy winners again, taking home a modest piece of silverware as they prepare for the Premier League season ahead.
If you were in any doubt about what this meant to Mourinho, then witness his compelling celebration after four excruciating minutes of injury-time.
He fixed himself to an imaginary cross on the touchline, turning to United’s supporters and shaking his fists so violently his knuckles must have turned white.
The last time Mourinho faced Leicester he was raising the white flag after Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez finished him off at Chelsea in December.
He does not forget easily.
After leading his players up the stairs to collect his first trophy at the club, he beckoned son Jose Junior and daughter Matilde to join him out on the pitch.
The United family will be a tougher crowd to win over.
At Chelsea, when he really got the Shed going or threw his arms despairingly into the air towards the Matthew Harding Stand, his name would ripple around the stadium immediately.
Here, the silence was deafening. This is a period of adjustment for all parties, a cautious meet-and-greet after the traumatic, chaotic post-Ferguson reigns of David Moyes and Van Gaal.
They shouted for Juan Mata, looking on in bewilderment when the substitute was substituted in the final minute.
Mata dished out some verbals as he made his way past Mourinho, questioning the decision to take him off just 27 minutes after replacing Jesse Lingard.
, inevitably, returned fire with a mouthful after sending on Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the final minute.
Keep an eye on that one, because there is so much history between the pair that it will surely boil over again before long.
Mata’s exit was designed to see out the game, to prevent an aerial bombardment that Mourinho described as ‘Rory Delap throw-ins’ from Leicester’s Luis Hernandez.
United had been in front in the first half when Wayne Rooney supplied the pass that led to Jesse Lingard’s strike.
The winger, scorer of the extra-time winner in the FA Cup final in May, danced past Wes Morgan before beating Schmeichel with a clever finish.
Leicester, subdued and afraid to cross the halfway line in the first half, left a far better impression after the break.
With Ahmed Musa and Demarai Gray feeding off the Leicester fans behind David De Gea’s goal, they spluttered into life.
They equalised when that duffer Marouane Fellaini undid all his great work after intercepting Musa’s run by coming up short with a backpass.
Vardy twigged, racing on to it to round De Gea before clipping a left-footer into an empty net.
“Champions of England, we know what we are,” sang Leicester’s magnificent supporters and they were entitled to.
or long periods of the second half, when they ditched the niceties and instead pumped the ball into the feet of Vardy or Musa, the Foxes were electrifying.
There is so much pace about them on the break and they frightened United’s new central defender Eric Bailly with their direct, powerful running.
Musa had the chance to win it for Leicester, heading over the bar when Robert Huth flicked on another Hernandez missile.
A minute later though, Ibra won it for United, finally getting the better of Wes Morgan after an agricultural, aggressive battle.
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Before that the Super Swede had been subdued, put in his box by Leicester’s captain after some aggressive early skirmishes.
All that counts is that he was there when it mattered though, waiting patiently for Antonio Valencia’s cross to the far post on 83 minutes.
It was a delicious ball, inviting Ibra to hitch a ride on Morgan before directing a clever header in.
He is The Man, clinching victory for Mourinho at a time when United did not really deserve it.
That will appeal to Mourinho, who is not the kind of guy to care much for aesthetics.
All he cares about is winning.
And winning is what he does.