Manchester United defeated Southampton 3-2 at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon to lift the 2017 EFL Cup.

A brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, either side of Jesse Lingard’s tidy finish shortly before half-time, saw The Red Devils fend off a stylish Saints side who were inspired by Manolo Gabbiadini’s double.

But it was 35-year-old Ibrahimovic who snatched the trophy from Southampton’s grasp and sealed United’s fifth League Cup victory after heading home the winner from Ander Herrera’s cross in the 87th minute.

Jose Mourinho claimed his first major trophy with the Old Trafford outfit, although he did lead The Red Devils to FA Community Shield victory back in August at the national stadium.

This evening’s triumph guarantees Manchester United a spot in the UEFA Europa League next term, although The Red Devils will still be eyeing a Champions League spot via the Premier League’s top four come May.

Manchester United have now won this competition five times times (1992, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2017) and move up to second in the all-time winners list alongside Chelsea and Aston Villa.

So, following the full-time whistle, here is five things Shoot! learned from the 2017 EFL Cup final…

Déjà Vu – I score two

Despite starring in English football for less than nine months, Zlatan Ibrahimovic already seems to love playing against Southampton.

The 35-year-old, who now has 26 goals in all competitions this season, has struck four goals in just his two appearances against The Saints, after netting both goals in United’s 2-0 league win back in August.

Southampton fans must be sick of the sight of him, already!

But, today’s double will hurt so much more after denying The Saints their first major trophy since 1976.

Masterful Mourinho

The ‘Special One’ retained his 100 per cent in League Cup finals, winning all four bouts – three with Chelsea, and now his first with Manchester United.

Mourinho moves joint-top alongside Brian Clough and Sir Alex Ferguson as managers to have won the competition the most times.

In fact, The Red Devils boss has never lost an English domestic cup final in his career.

Remarkable.

Gabbiadini = Goals

What a terrific start to his Southampton career this man is having!

Yes, Manolo Gabbiadini may have ended up on the losing side this evening, but his man of the match performance inside Wembley Stadium was championesque.

The 25-year-old, who joined The Saints from Napoli only last month for a reported £15m, has now scored five goals in his first three appearances for Claude Puel’s men.

Gabbiadini looks a bargain buy at £15m, considering United’s Paul Pogba cost almost six times that sum, and has only netted twice more than the Italian since the summer.

De Gea saves points and prizes

Despite leaking two goals against The Saints, goalkeeper David De Gea was an unsung hero for the League Cup winners, ensuring United never went behind in this match.

Firstly, the Spaniard denied captain Steven Davis drawing Southampton level shortly before the half-hour mark, clawing away the midfielder’s powerful drive from 25 yards out.

Then, Dusan Tadic tried his luck four minutes later, only for De Gea to block well with his legs.

But, undoubtedly, just after the interval, De Gea produced the save of the game to preserve United’s 2-1 advantage [though only momentarily], after spectacularly turning over Nathan Redmond’s stinging volley after Maya Yoshida’s lobbed ball in the penalty area caught out his entire defence.

Gabbiadini soon equalised, but without De Gea’s pivotal reflexes, United could have been 3-2 or 4-2 down early in the second-half as Southampton rapidly grew into the game and looked the more likely team to nick a late winner.

United fans are regularly thankful to De Gea’s last-ditch heroics in the Premier League, which preserve all three points, or even salvages a point.

But today, it meant more than just points – a prize, the League Cup.

Luck of the linesman?

This final could have been a completely different story, if, when Manolo Gabbiadini first buried the ball into the back of the net after 11 minutes, the linesman had CORRECTLY awarded the goal.

Instead, the assistant referee incorrectly waved his flag for offside, despite the Italian being onside in the six-yard area.

Team-mate Ryan Bertrand was the offside culprit, but the left-back played no influential role in the opener and The Saints should have been a goal to the good.

Given the final outcome of the match and their overall performance, if Gabbiadini’s opener stood, Southampton would have been favourites to lift their first-ever League Cup.

Instead; United rode their luck and will openly admit the linesman, and the woodwork from Oriol Romeu’s header, saved their blushes in what was an underwhelming performance from the eventual winners.