Nobody saw it coming, not even Zlatan Ibrahimovic – the man who is no stranger to wonder goals. It looked like a rather innocuous cross into the box from the Swedish striker and Henrikh Mkhitaryan had made his run too soon.
That was until he lifted his right foot and executed the perfect scorpion kick to send the ball past Jordan Pickford. It was the icing on the cake as Manchester United beat Sunderland 3-1 on Boxing Day to extend their winning run to four games in the Premier League. Their unbeaten run now stands at nine league games – a huge turnaround after the early season struggles under new boss Jose Mourinho.
The Armenian midfielder has also had his problems adapting to English football but has finally been integrated into the side. He is in fine form, having scored three goals in his last three games. Following a first Premier League goal against Tottenham Hotspur, it is now two in two (his first goal for the club came in the Europa League against Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk).
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“That was the best goal I've ever scored,” Mkhitaryan told the club’s official channel MUTV. “I was very excited.”
Although the 27-year-old was offside, it has been pushed to the background considering the scoreline and the circumstances. However, Mkhitaryan himself was not sure and had to check with the linesman before his celebrations.
“The first thing I did was look at the assistant [referee] and I saw it was not ruled as offside,” he explained. “So I just started to celebrate.”
He then explained his thought process leading up to the goal – especially when he realized he was in no position to get a header on goal.
“I was expecting the ball to be in front of me and then I realised I was in front of it,” he said. “As the ball was behind me, the only thing I could do was a backheel so I did that and I succeeded.”
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Mourinho praises Mkhitaryan’s attitude on the pitch
The fans at Old Trafford weren’t the only ones to praise his performance and the way he has finally found his scoring boots midway through the season. United manager Mourinho was also on hand to talk about the player’s impact at the club.
“All his career, he’s scored beautiful goals,” the Portuguese manager said. “In this moment, there's goals, defensive work, creativity.”
“I'm so happy he came back after his injury and he came back with happiness. And he feels at Old Trafford, people love him – and that's a very important feeling for him.”
The result sees United maintain pressure on fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur who did not play on Boxing Day. They are now tied on points until Spurs play Southampton on Wednesday night.
