While it’s extremely disappointing of Manchester United that they dropped points against AFC Bournemouth Saturday, a team over which they were highly favored, one major story lines overshadowed that missed opportunity. Manager Jose Mourinho admits that his team was not able to overcome his opponents parking the bus on him in the second half, but two controversial on-field incidents are all anyone is talking about today.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic fell to the ground, he was stomped on by Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings. Moments later, Ibrahimovic elbowed Mings to the face. Both incidents lead to charges of violent conduct by the Football Association on Monday.
Both incidents escaped notice from the officials, and neither player was booked. Both players maintain contact was accidental and not intentional.
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Both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jose Mourinho said that they will not make public outcries over Mings’ apparently aggressive action, but Wayne Rooney already has. FA charges are only possible if referee Kevin Friend says he did not see either incident at the time of occurrence.
Here’s an excerpt from the FA statement:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Tyrone Mings have both been charged with alleged violent conduct following the Manchester United versus AFC Bournemouth game on Saturday [4 March 2017].
The players were involved in two separate incidents in or around the 44th minute which were not seen by the match officials at the time but caught on video.
Furthermore, The FA has submitted a claim that the standard punishment that would otherwise apply for the misconduct committed by the Bournemouth defender is ‘clearly insufficient’.
Both players have until 6pm on Tuesday 7 March 2017 to reply to their charge.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and NBC Chicago.com, contributes to Chicago Tribune.com, Bold, WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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