Zlatan Ibrahimovic hat-trick helps Manchester United overcome slow start to beat Saint-Etienne in Europa League

Manchester United 3 Saint Etienne 0: Following a sluggish start the home side pulled ahead with the Swedish forward doing all the damage

Blind and Herrera celebrate with Ibrahimovic after his opening goal (Getty Images)

It wasn’t exactly a Zlatan Ibrahimovic hat-trick befitting the colour and animation with which the bouncing, boisterous green French delegation of supporters filled a corner of Old Trafford. The free kick and a penalty he won and converted to start and complete it were both awarded under the most marginal connection from defenders, though no one will remember that if Manchester United can travel all the way to the Stockholm final.

“The officials were good for us tonight,” said Paul Scholes, struggling with the concept of TV studio neutrality as always at Old Trafford, though Saint Etienne coach Christophe Galtier was less phlegmatic. No wonder. The goals take the Swede’s tally to against the French side to 17 goals in 14. With the raucous atmosphere in the Massif Central next week now seeming to hold little fear, Jose Mourinho could reflect last night on the extraordinary value which this 35-year-old has brought.

Mourinho is interested in this competition; very interested. Behind the choreographed indifference he is displaying about the Europa League and fixtures it piles up, he sees the chance to win the one pot that eluded Sir Alex Ferguson.

There was a smile of genuine satisfaction late on Thursday night when he was asked if he felt satisfied - “I am!” – and his cautionary tale of his players’ pre-match high jinks revealed how hell bent he seemed on eliminating complacency. By the time he arrived to discuss the game, he had clearly studied the other first leg results. Ferguson never mustered this kind of enthusiasm for Thursday nights.

The talk of poor concentration should not be overdone because for a time it looked like the French side would be steamrollered. There was as much intent in United’s early play as there had been in their manager’s team selection. Paul Pogba, unexpectedly operating at the back of midfield, marshalled and commanded, sending out a succession of Hollywood passes, left foot and right. His brother, Florentin, left Zlatan Ibrahimovic on his backside as the first half wore on. He needed a few fraternal bragging rights of his own, by then.

United led through a goal which was surprisingly prosaic, considering the early waves the side made: Ibrahimovic winning a cheap free kick, falling under minimal contact from Jordan Veretout and then somehow passing the free-kick, from just outside the area. He sent the ball through the legs of Kevin Monnet-Paquet and squirming over the line with the deceived goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier sitting on his goal line. Anthony Martial was also alive to the possibilities of a competition Steven Gerrard once called the Champions League’s “ugly kid brother.” A 60-yard run and shot which Stephane Ruffier stuck out a left boot to block was the best of his creations.

Paul Pogba won the battle of the brothers on this occasion (Getty)

But the French zest which had made Manchester city centre a sea of green all day was not limited to their supporters. Saint Etienne might be a shadow of what the great Gerard Janvion, Herve Revelli and Dominique Rocheteau brought when these teams last met, 40 years ago, but they remain a side in which a surfeit of intelligence compensates for the lack of financial resource. They spotted a weakness down the United right, where Antonio Valencia and Eric Bailly could not stem their rapid, counter-attacking raids, and having fallen behind recovered to create a string of chances.

Juan Mata is denied by Saint-Etienne's Ruffier

Romain Hamouma and Henri Saivet posed the creative threat and provided the first half’s outstanding move on the half hour, when Hamouma cut in from the left and found his teammate, who rolled the ball under his studs and clipped it narrowly wide.

What impressed most after what seems to have been a half-time monstering by the manger was United’s pace in all areas which has been missing so often in these past three and a half years. Martial offered it in abundance, winning a free kick which Pogba smacked against Ruffier’s cross bar. The header Pogba sent against the bar was less impressive. It was a gilt-edged chance.

Eric Bailly in action for United (Getty Images)

The ammunition kept arriving, with Marcus Rashford joining in for the last 20 minutes and he needed five minutes to turn the key, driving into the left hand side of French box and finding the shot which Ruffier could only palm to Ibrahimovic, who pounced.

The margins can be pitifully fine. The visiting centre forward, substitute Nolan Roux, came close to equalising a minute before the second goal, racing ahead of Daley Blind to run in on Sergio Romero and yet clipping the ball over. Ibrahimovic was immeasurably more clinical. He fell to the floor under minimal contact from Kevin Theophile-Catherine on 88 minutes, the penalty was awarded and United’s job was done.