A review of the Zorya vs. Manchester United game...Mkhitaryan returns

Eastern Europe is never an easy trip to make, especially if it involves a crunch football match that could decide the fate of progression.

Manchester United flew to Ukraine with an urge to clobber the hosts Zorya Luhansk and ensure safe passage into the final 16 – three points was all that was needed to do magic no matter the outcome of the Fenerhahce vs. Feyenoord encounter.

In reality, we prayed hard that Robin van Persie would not get carried away by a trip back to his boyhood club of Feyenoord – we never wanted the Dutchmen to interfere with our second place at the logs.

Had Zorya beaten us at an almost dilapidated pitch in Odessa and Feyenoord mustered a win against the Turks, we would have been tossed out of the competition.

Odessa was the stage for Manchester United’s last Europa League group stage encounter against Zorya Luhansk.

Even though United had expressed concerns about the quality of the pitch, the happenings did less to imply the pitch’s condition.

However, in some instances, we were made to labour hard for the ball as the hosts seemed content at frustrating us.

All in all, Manchester United were able to slay any form of aggravation (some may see it as a conspiracy against United) that Zorya sought so hard to utilize.

Characteristically indicative of recent matches involving Manchester United, there was a late goal in the game against Zorya only that this time round we were actually scoring it and not the victims.

But what did we learn from the game?

Some will say that the only reason why Mkhitaryan performed so well against Zorya was down to the fact that he once played in Ukraine (the Armenian spent three seasons with Shakhtar Donetsk before joining Borussia Dortmund).

Of more notice is that Mkhitaryan is still the national holder for most goals scored in the Ukrainian League – he scored 24 during the 2012/13 season.

The reality is that Henrikh Mkhitaryan is beyond comparison – actually, you are free to slap anyone (including myself) who argues with that.

After being banished by Jose Mourinho from the first team following a sloppy performance against our noisy neighbours, Manchester City, at Old Trafford, nobody could have predicted the return of Mkhitaryan.

In reality, odds would have been that he would never recover from that mess.

Some few weeks and here we are – Mkhitaryan is not only back with a bang, but he is really threatening to offer a new meaning to the term “Savage mode.”

Exporting his loads of tricks from Iduna Signal to Old Trafford has been a slow but sure process for the Armenian international.

We all saw that during the match against Zorya Luhansk; picking the ball from the halfway line, Mkhitaryan sped off towards the Zorya goal with the drive of an electric train.

With Wayne Rooney racing alongside to try and pick a pass or to intentionally distract the defenders, Mkhitaryan had lots of options to explore and he did exactly that.

What followed was a sight to behold; the Armenian applied a cool nutmeg on Rafael Forster before he side-footed the goalkeeper to give United the lead.

The return of Eric Bailly is a more than welcome boost for the Reds.

Our inability to defend the slim leads gained has really cost us as late goals continue to pile the pressure on the squad.

It is not in United’s character to ship in cheap goals but truth is that we have been missing a solid defender.

That could instantly change with Bailly’s return. Ever since Bailly was taken out injured, we have only managed three clean sheets and just a meager four wins! For purposes of not being labeled a dissent, let me not explore further as regards our disjointed displays lately.

Looking back at how horrific Marcos Rojo tackled opposition players at Goodison Park against Everton, you had a feeling that a red card was seconds away from being dished out – that is how desperately we missed Eric Bailly’s physical and mental presence.

Some few flashes of brilliance offer glimpses of how good we can get at some time – a thought that is hurried buried by the knowledge that we are currently sitting below the Champions League places in the EPL logs.

However, all these disastrous outings have been characterized by our defensive blunders much as we blame our strikers for not capitalizing on the chances.

The Scottish Knight once said that strikers win you games but defenders win you titles. That statement couldn’t be truer!

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s resurgence has seen him score seven goals in his last six matches – that’s a fearsome strike rate no matter the composition and quality of the opposition.

The Big Swede has cropped up from the obscurity to shell out goals for fun - we have even forgotten our earlier calls to have him benched after he earlier scored just one goal in eleven games; some of us even wondered why he joined United, while others punctured holes on his Bosman transfer from the Eiffel Tower to M16.

Lately, the Swede has been making lots of positive movements in the opposition turf, thereby making enough room to maneuver and pick that crucial pass from a teammate.

Feared by defenders due to his acrobatic antics on the field, Ibrahimovic’s revival could well serve as an inspiration to some of our lackluster players.

Coupled with Mkhitaryan’s awe-inspiring form, Ibrahimovic could go the whole hog and do carnage on Sunday.

Statistics don’t lie – Mkhitaryan’s 78 touches in the game against Zorya showed that he was one of the most influential attackers in the game.

The travelling fans at Chornomorets Stadium were left in admiration as Mkhitaryan constantly showed up in danger areas, much to the consternation of Zorya fans.

The devastating speed and a direct play that is reflective of Mkhitaryan’s play could well be in show as a form of assists on Sunday against Tottenham Hotspurs, and the man most likely to benefit is one Zlatan Ibrahimovic.