Carabao Cup 2017/18: Bristol City 2-1 Manchester United: 5 talking points
The Carabao Cup may not be the most prestigious of cup competitions but a trip to Wembley is nothing to be sniffed at. And with a star-studded quarter-finals line-up, clearly, the big clubs shared that sentiment.
In a historic encounter between two teams who had never before met in this competition, Bristol City welcomed Manchester United to the Ashton Gate Stadium. What followed was a match we won’t forget in a hurry.
Carabao Cup holders Manchester United have been knocked out by Championship side Bristol City. An injury-time winner from Korey Smith was enough to give the Robins a famous victory over Manchester United. The historic win sends them into the semi-finals of the cup where they’ll face Manchester City in a doubleheader.
Here are 5 talking points from an epic game.
#5 Zlatan Ibrahimovi?’s return to the starting line-up
Upon his return to first-team football, Zlatan Ibrahimovi? did what he does best: score a goal and then raise his arms in the air. We were reminded of the trademark celebration in the 58th minute when the 36-year-old smashed a freekick down Luke Steele’s side.
And with that, Manchester United were back in the game brimming with confidence, but little did they know what Bristol City had in store for them.
Apart from that timely equalizer, Zlatan Ibrahimovi? did not contribute much to the game. The Swedish striker misplaced 6 passes, created 0 chances, was dispossessed twice and managed to direct one shot on target. If this was an audition for the 36-year-old to replace Romelu Lukaku in the starting XI, then, it didn’t go well.