Man Utd 3 - 0 Saint-Etienne. Zlatan Ibrahimovic hat-trick disorganized the visitors

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored 23 goals so far for
Manchester United this season
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a hat-trick as
Manchester United opened up a commanding
Europa League last-32 lead against Saint-Etienne.

Ibrahimovic's deflected free-kick wrong-footed
goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier and dribbled over the
line for the opener, and he tapped home from
close range after good work from Marcus Rashford,
as well as adding a late penalty.

Saint-Etienne caused United problems on the
break in the first 45 minutes, particularly with
Romain Hamouma's pace, while Henri Saivet and
Nolan Roux both clipped efforts narrowly off target.

Ruffier's double save denied Juan Mata and
Anthony Martial forced the visiting goalkeeper into
sharp saves, while Paul Pogba headed against the
crossbar from close range.
The two sides meet for the second leg on
Wednesday, 22 February (kick-off 17:00 GMT).

Relive United's win over Saint-Etienne
It's Zlat man again
There were question marks over the signing of
veteran striker Ibrahimovic on a free transfer from
Paris St-Germain in the summer, but the Swede
has responded by taking his tally to 23 for the
season.

The 35-year-old former Juventus, Barcelona and
AC Milan man has now netted 17 career hat-tricks.
It was his first since joining United, his second in
European competition and his third against Saint- Etienne.

"Every time I have played against Saint-Etienne,
with hard work there has been a couple of goals,"
Ibrahimovic said after the game. "I have scored a
couple of goals tonight and hopefully I can do the
same next week."

The Ligue 1 side will be pleased to see the back of
Ibrahimovic when he retires having scored 17
times against them during his career.

Ibrahimovic has 11 titles and three domestic cups
to his name, but a major European trophy remains
missing from his illustrious CV.

Cup treble on for United?
Like Ibrahimovic, United have never won this
competition, but the result keeps alive their hopes
of a cup treble this season. They face Blackburn in
the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday and Southampton in the EFL Cup final the following
week.

In his first season at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho's
side are just two points off a Champions League
spot in the league, but triumph in the Europa
League would give them an automatic passage
through to Europe's elite club competition.

Against Saint-Etienne, the Red Devils tested Ruffier
on numerous occasions but he was left
floundering for the first goal, while his parry into
the danger area allowed the second.

On the other hand, the Ligue 1 side carved
United's backline open with ease at times, with
defender Eric Bailly looking particularly suspect,
but they failed to work goalkeeper Sergio Romero
into a single save with their 14 shots.

Pogba brothers do battle
The world's most expensive player, Paul Pogba,
was up against his brother Florentin, who was
signed by the French side for 500,000 euros in
2012.

Mother Yeo and third brother Mathias watched
from the stands as the two shared a warm
embrace before kick-off, with the elder sibling
Florentin sporting a number 19 on one side of his
head and his brother's six on the other.

"It is something very magical, it does not happen
every day and I really enjoyed playing against my
brother," said the United player.
France international Paul showed why the club
spent £89m to sign him from Juventus in the
summer with a dominant midfield performance in
which he controlled the tempo of the match.

However, on one occasion he inadvertently gave
the ball away to Florentin, whose burst forward
eventually saw the ball reach Saivet, but the on-
loan Newcastle man could not find the target with
his shot.

Florentin's rising drive in the first half almost saw
him nick an away goal for his side, while Paul
wasted good chances in the second period, the
best of which came as he headed against the
woodwork when unmarked.
The Saint-Etienne defender's evening ended early
as he hobbled off with an injury with 12 minutes
remaining.

'A decisive moment'
Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic told
BT Sport: "We created good chances. It was
important to get a good win at home and we bring
it with us in the second leg. It was a good game
but I think we can do better.
"We are winning but in a short time everything can
change. It's important to keep getting the wins we
need. Everything can change but we're happy at
the moment.

"This is the decisive moment for the season. We
are still in all four competitions. The fifth we already won [the Community Shield]."

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho:
"Concentration was not there in the first half. We
started making dangerous mistakes at the back,
were slow in the build-up and had no movement in
attack. We were lucky to be winning at half-time.
"In the second half the story changed. We were
faster. It wasn't the perfect game because we still
lost the ball too often but it was better. The tie is
not over but it is a good result."

What next?

Manchester United travel to Blackburn Rovers in
the FA Cup on Sunday (kick-off 16:15 GMT), while
Saint-Etienne face Montpellier in Ligue 1 on the
same day (kick-off 16:00 GMT).