The Stagcom 27th February Round Up
How is it Monday already? Another weekend that has gone far too quick, but it feels more bearable when it was enjoyable as the one just passed!
Between the EFL Cup Final and all the Six Nations action, there were plenty of talking points and here we take you through it all in our weekend round up.
Zlatan is the man
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the hero as Manchester United defeated Southampton in the EFL Cup Final. The 35-year-old scored a late winner to give United a 3-2 in a pulsating game at Wembley.
Southampton were undoubtedly the better side throughout and can feel a sense of injustice that they didn't win on the day. Manolo Gabbiadini had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside, before Ibrahimovic opened the scoring with a free-kick. Jesse Lingard made it 2-0 with a cool finish just inside the Southampton area, but a near-post flick from Gabbiadini gave the Saints hope just before half-time.
The Italian striker levelled the match after the restart with an impressive swivelled finish in the box and it looked like Claude Puel's men would go onto win. Oriol Romeu hit the woodwork and with three minutes remaining, an unmarked Ibrahimovic headed in to give Jose Mourinho his first trophy in charge of United.
Chelsea in charge
Chelsea took another step closer to their fifth Premier League title with a 3-1 win over Swansea. Cesc Fabregas, Pedro and Diego Costa scored the goals to give Antonio Conte's side a routine win as they maintain their ten-point lead at the top; a lead that looks unlikely to be surrendered.
Next back in second are Spurs, who won convincingly over Stoke at White Hart Lane on Sunday. Harry Kane was the star again, scoring his third hat-trick in eight games, with Dele Alli adding the other.
There was a significant change at the bottom of the table as well over the weekend, thanks to Crystal Palace's 1-0 win over Middlesbrough. Patrick van Aanholt scored the only goal to lift Sam Allardyce's side out of the bottom three, and put Leicester City into the relegation zone for the first time this season. The Foxes begin life without Claudio Ranieri tonight at the King Power, where Liverpool are the visitors.
Six Nations surprises
Scotland produced a second-half fightback at Murrayfield as they overcame Wales in the Six Nations for the first time since 2007.
Wales were the superior side in the first-half but only led 13-9 at the break and Scotland made them pay in the second period. Tommy Seymour and Tim Visser both went over and Finn Russell kicked 19 points to give the Scots a famous win.
Next up for Scotland is a trip to Twickenham to take on England who kept up their 100% record with a 36-15 win over Italy. To the surprise of everyone, Italy led 10-5 at the break, but England responded in the second-half to extend their winning run to 17 matches. Tries from Danny Care, Elliot Daly calmed England, before Ben Te'o and a further two from Jack Nowell gave England a vital bonus point victory.
The other match of the weekend saw Ireland defeat France 19-9 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Buoyed by the return of Johnny Sexton, the fly-half kicked two penalties as well as converting Conor Murray's try. The win puts Ireland in second place at the halfway mark of the tournament.
Image credits: Genius Football, Premier League, Exeter Chiefs, The Mirror