Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says that both he and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not engage in public outcries over the controversies that surrounded the Swedish striker in today’s 1-1 draw with Bournemouth. Fellow United forward Wayne Rooney, however, already has.
Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings landed on Ibrahimovic’s head with his boot, but claimed this was purely accidental. Seconds later, Ibrahimovic hit Mings in the face with his elbow. He also insisted that this was not intentional.
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“Zlatan is a big man,” said Mourinho.
“We are from that generation of street football and football for big guys. We are not the kind of generation who goes to the media and cries about what happened. What counts is the result. Nothing else matters for us.”
Wayne Rooney took a decidedly different approach.
“In fairness, I don’t think the referee saw Tyrone Mings trying to stamp on Zlatan’s head,” Rooney said.
“I think it’s wrong in football [trying to stamp on another player]. Everyone likes to see tackles in the game but to try to stamp on someone’s head is wrong and there’s no place for it. I’m sure there will be punishment.”
Both players could face charges of violent conduct from the Football Association, and possibly a three-to-five match ban. That’s only possible however if referee Kevin Friend says he did not see either incident at the time that they occurred.
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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