Zlatan Ibrahimovic admits Manchester United ‘have been our own enemy’ in slipping up in the Premier League – but he is still eyeing taking the title ahead of Chelsea.
Ibrahimovic hit his 20th goal of the season at Leicester City on Sunday as United found a ruthless streak having dropped cheap points in recent weeks.
Jose Mourinho’s team are sixth, 14 points behind leaders Chelsea, paying the price for a lack of goals compared to their top
-six rivals.
And star striker Ibrahimovic concedes things could be ‘totally different’ in chasing the league title if United had taken their chances.
And the 36-year-old still has designs on prime silverware at the end of the season despite the gap at the TOP and manager Mourinho writing off his team’s hopes.
‘We have missed (out) in a couple of games by not winning them. If we had won them the situation would have been totally different,’ Ibrahimovic said.
‘We are working hard and we really want to reach the TOP four and the Champions League. To be champions it will be hard but this is our aim and we don’t give up.
‘I think we are back in the hunt. It was a big gap couple of months ago but it is smaller now.
‘We have been our own enemy. If we had won our games and got the points we should have got the situation would have been totally different.
‘But okay, now we look at other teams and hope they lose points.’
Chris Smalling, who captained United at Leicester, added: ‘I think we’ve had a few opportunities to be able to close that gap and I think today we’ve taken that opportunity and played well. We need to build on this.
‘I think that’s our job, to keep in there and hopefully climb those places.’
Ibrahimovic grabbed United’s second at the King Power Stadium, his goal sandwiched by strikes from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata in a comfortable victory.
At 35 years and 125 days old, he became the oldest player to reach 15 Premier League goals in a single season.
With 20 in all competitions, this is the 10th season in a row he has passed the 20-mark for clubs in Italy, France and now England.
‘I still produce and do my best and I get a lot of help from my team-mates,’ Ibrahimovic said ‘I know there were many people who said I wouldn’t even score 20 but that is nothing I focus
‘For me the main objective is to help my team win and do their best and afterwards we see what happens. We have some games left so hopefully I will get more.’
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