Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a priceless brace as Manchester United beat Southampton 3-2 in the 2017 EFL Cup final on Sunday at Wembley Stadium, with the sides playing out a classic match that could have gone either way.

Both teams put out their strongest possible line ups for the first domestic trophy of the English football season, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the Red Devils and Virgil van Djik for the Saints the notable injury casualties.

Southampton were the side that started the final on the front foot, giving their fancied opponents a run for their money from the off and should have taken the lead, but for an erroneous decision from match official Andre Marriner.

Manolo Gabbidiani thought he had scored but the striker’s joy was short-lived as the officials incorrectly ruled him to be offside, much to the disbelief of Claude Puel on the sidelines. And within minutes of that reprieve, United took the lead via their talismanic striker, who sent in a howitzer of a free kick to leave a scrambling Fraser Forster with no chance.

Ander Herrera had been upended by Oriol Romeu some 15 yards from the box, a considerable distance for any ordinary footballer. And for the first but not the last time on the night, the Swede showed just why he is considered among the world’s finest strikers with a ferocious free kick to open his and United’s account.

Southampton were undeterred by the early setback as they continued to press for an equaliser but things got worse before they got better.

Jesse Lingard continued his remarkable streak of scoring in cup finals, finishing off a fine team move with a well-placed finish in 38th minute. To say the goal came against the run of play would be an understatement as the Saints were making all the right moves but somehow were unable to score.

And seconds before half-time, Manolo Gabbidiani touched in James Ward-Prowse’s low cross from the right to give the Saints hope that the tie wasn't quite done and dusted yet.

Southampton had finished the first half the stronger of the two sides and started the second in the same vein, pressing and harrying United each time they lost the ball.

And their brave performance was rewarded when their in-form striker Gabbidiani swivelled and finished past David de Gea after a corner had initially been cleared till the edge of the United box. The ball came back to him and despite having his back to the goal, the Italian forward seemed nonplussed as his turn-and-shot left de Gea rooted on the line.

Paul Pogba was once again invisible in a major final and even Anthony Martial largely disappointed but it was the tenacious Herrera, who put in a shift worthy of the occasion even as his higher-profile teammates failed to live up to their billings.

United had launched a counter attack but the chance had fizzled out as the Swede looked tired and unable to escape the recovering defenders but held up the ball well, with substitute Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial arriving to help out. Martial then cut in from the left and got lucky as a tackle fell back in his path but instead of choosing to shoot, he released Herrera not the wing.

He sent in a deliciously-clipped cross for Ibrahimovic to head home three minutes from regulation time, as the Swede proved with his 26th goal of the season that even at 35, strikers of his pedigree can shine in any league.

While United have been impressive in recent months, this was not a vintage performance. 
In fact, Southampton deserved to win on the chances created and will probably feel hard done by the referee’s decision to disallow what was a perfectly-legal opener. 

Still, this is a fifth EFL Cup title in the club’s storied history and the first one in the Jose Mourinho era after the Community Shield, a fact that cannot be scoffed at.

With the race for the Champions League spots still in the balance and United still in contention in two more cup competitions, the future does augur well for the Red Devils under the Portuguese tactician. What makes the win even sweeter for the United faithful is that the club is now the most successful English team with 42 trophies, one ahead of arch-rivals Liverpool. Not a bad way to start the year!