Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates after scoring the winner for Manchester United in the Community Shield. Reuters

"One game, one trophy." Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not a man for mincing his words. And as so often in his career, on Sunday he delivered on them on the big stage. Speaking before his first official match in a Manchester United shirt, the Swedish great had made it clear he was in no mind to wait to add to a vast medal collection that includes league titles from six different clubs.

He had done little of note through much of Sunday's Community Shield. But with seven minutes remaining at Wembley, it was he who leapt above towering Leicester City defender Wes Morgan to head Antonio Valencia's cross into the corner of the net and give Manchester United a 2-1 win over the Premier League winners.

It was a starring start for a man who Jose Mourinho hopes can be the x-factor in Manchester United succeeding Leicester as top dog this season, just as Ibrahimovic was for the Portuguese at Inter eight years ago. Mourinho, too, is a serial winner and, while it is far from the most important prize his new club will play for this season, he will be delighted to get some early silverware under his belt as he attempts to deliver instant success to a club that has been starved of it since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson more than three years ago.

There were positive signs, too, beyond Ibrahimovic's impact and the victory. Jesse Lingard, the man who won the FA Cup for United less than three months ago, again made a star contribution at Wembley. This time he opened the scoring, taking advantage of some less than robust challenges to surge through a series of Leicester players and find the net in the 32nd minute.

New signing Eric Bailly also impressed, particularly with his athleticism that helped to largely negate the devastating pace of Jamie Vardy, but also with a show of composure beyond the years of a defender with just one full season of top-fight football under his belt. Bailly could do nothing, though, to stop Vardy from equalizing seven minutes into the second half.

Marouane Fellaini, a surprise starter despite many expecting him to be on the way out under Mourinho, played a woefully short back pass that Vardy eagerly seized upon before rounding David de Gea and sliding the ball into an unguarded net. It was a strong piece of evidence that Leicester and Vardy will not experience the dramatic fall from grace many expect this season.

Manager Claudio Ranieri opted not to include any of his new signings in the starting lineup, with club stalwart Andy King stepping into the role of the departed N'Golo Kante in the only change from last season's familiar starting XI.

But there was still a chance for one of Leicester's new boys to catch the eye. Ahmed Musa made a sizable impact after coming on at the start of the second half, causing United repeated problems with his blistering pace and direct running. And it was one of the Nigerian's bursts forward that helped lead to Leicester's equalizer.

Fellaini had intercepted Musa's forward pass, but his resulting error may yet prove to be the final nail in the coffin of his Manchester United career, particularly with the news that broke just before kickoff on Sunday that Paul Pogba would be undergoing a medical ahead of his return to Old Trafford.

The future doesn't exactly look bright for Juan Mata, either. Having been sold to United by Mourinho when at Chelsea, his days at Old Trafford have looked numbered ever since Mourinho was announced as the new boss at Manchester United. And in the first official match of the season, Mourinho decided to treat the Spaniard to one of the ultimate indignities a professional can suffer by substituting him right before the end of the 90 minutes despite having only been brought as a substitute in the 63rd minute.

Mata looked far from happy at the decision and, although Mourinho later explained it as a way to help deal with Leicester's aerial threat in the dying seconds, it is unlikely to do anything to improve the relationship between the two. Fortunately for Mourinho, the headlines had been stolen by Ibrahimov

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