Top 10 iconic Manchester United games of the decade (2010-2019)

#7 Manchester United 3-2 Southampton – EFL Cup Final, 26th February 2017

Zlatan Ibrahimovic helped United to overcome Southampton in the 2017 EFL Cup final

Jose Mourinho was brought in as Manchester United boss with the reputation as a serial winner who could guarantee trophies, and while his time at the club ended pretty badly, he did at least manage to bring some silverware to Old Trafford. There’s an argument to be made that his Red Devils didn’t deserve this EFL Cup win over Southampton in 2017, but it was an exciting and memorable game nonetheless.

The Saints actually had the better of the game, taking 52% of the possession and having more shots on goal than United, and they even had an early goal disallowed when the officials decided Manolo Gabbiadini was offside, a contentious call at best. United then took a 2-goal lead, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring an unbelievable free-kick before Jesse Lingard netted from just inside the penalty area.

Southampton hit back on the stroke of half-time through Gabbiadini, and with just two minutes of the second half gone, the Italian found the net again with a clever turn and shot from inside the area. From there, it was a back-and-forth game with Claude Puel’s side coming closest to finding a winner through Oriel Romeu, who struck the bar.

If the Saints had figured it was their day, though, they’d reckoned against the iron will of Ibrahimovic. With just 3 minutes remaining, the Swedish legend rose highest to send Ander Herrera’s cross into the back of the net for his 26th goal of the season, breaking Southampton’s hearts and handing Mourinho his first major trophy at United.