IBRAHIMOVIC
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has escaped much of the criticism at
Manchester United but the misses are now totting up…
Manchester United's wretched
defending against Chelsea was the biggest factor in their 4-0 defeat on Sunday,
but it isn't the only reason for concern for Jose Mourinho.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has now
gone more than eight hours without a Premier League goal, his worst sequence
without a league goal in a decade
In fact, his only goal in his
last eight games in all competitions came against Zorya Luhansk in the Europa
League.
Ibrahimovic is getting chances - he has had more shots (45)
than any other Premier League player this season - but he's failed to score
with his last 30 attempts.
Only three other players have
had 30 shots and none of them have scored fewer than Ibrahimovic. In
comparison, Premier League top scorer Diego Costa has seven goals from only 27
shots.
Opta definition of a big chance: A situation where a player should reasonably be expected to
score usually in a one-on-one scenario or from very close range.
The 35-year-old cannot even
point to the quality of his opportunities. According to Opta, he has missed six
of his seven big chances this season.
Opta defines a big chance as
one that a player might reasonably be expected to score, but of the 17 players
to have had four or more of them Ibrahimovic has the worst conversion rate.
Should Manchester United supporters be encouraged that their
centre forward is getting such opportunities or alarmed that he's missing them?
Here, we highlight some of
Ibrahimovic's best chances that have been squandered…
Manchester City
United were dominated in the
early stages of the Manchester derby but managed to get back into it thanks to
Ibrahimovic's expertly struck effort as he capitalised on Claudio Bravo's
mistake. But there were opportunities to equalise in the moments that followed.
Ibrahimovic headed straight
at Bravo from close range on the stroke of half-time and when the
goalkeeper failed to deal with a situation in stoppage time, Ibrahimovic
only had to beat the man on the line but scuffed his shot badly. City survived
the wobble to claim the three points.
Watford
Perhaps United's most
surprising defeat under Mourinho came at Vicarage Road where they went down 3-1
to Watford, losing for the third consecutive game in a row. But Ibrahimovic had
the chance to give his side some momentum with the score goalless in the first
half.
Rashford's low cross from the
right found its way to the striker, but instead of turning the ball into the
net with his left foot he could only find the side-netting. Watford took the
lead 13 minutes later so this was another wasted chance that proved costly.
United looked set for a
straightforward afternoon at home to a Stoke side that had taken just two
points from their first six games of the season, especially when Ibrahimovic
found himself one-on-one with Lee Grant inside three minutes.
However, Ibrahimovic aimed
for the near post with the space at the far corner gaping and Grant saved well
before pouncing on the rebound. Anthony Martial eventually gave United the lead
but Joe Allen's late equaliser meant it was two points dropped.
Mourinho was accused of being
overly defensive away to Liverpool and was aggrieved enough about that
characterisation to contest the possession statistics in his post-match press conference.
He could also point to the fact that Ibrahimovic had the best chance.
The striker wildly
misdirected his header from close range early in the second half after good
work by Paul Pogba on the right and United never got so close to scoring again.
"Ibrahimovic's header was a big moment," Gary Neville told Sky Sports.
Chelsea
Conceding a goal inside the
first minute of what turned out to be a 4-0 defeat suggests United had
little hope of getting a result, but Ibrahimovic did get the chance
to come up with an equaliser inside the first 10 minutes of the game.
Having pulled onto the far
post and easily out-jumped marker Cesar Azpilicueta, Ibrahimovic could only
head over the bar. Gary Cahill put Chelsea two up soon after and any lingering
belief among United's players ebbed away after the break.
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