Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not face UEFA action for his neck grab on Fenerbahce’s Simon Kjaer in United’s Europa League defeat against the Turkish club.
Ibrahimovic got into a heated argument with the Fenerbahce defender during the game and cameras captured the forward grabbing Kjaer by the throat. The referee on the night Milorad Mazic took no action against Ibrahimovic and let the game continue but the fourth official did review the incident and deemed no sanction for it.
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Due to the fourth official’s ruling, Europe’s footballing governing body UEFA will, therefore, not investigate the incident and won’t take action against Ibrahimovic although reports claimed otherwise.
Fenerbahce’s manager Dick Advocaat, when asked about the incident said, "That is part of football, I don't talk about individuals."
Zlatan Ibrahimovic came under harsh criticism for his poor form as the Swede failed to score in six games for United until he scored a brace last night against Swansea. It was the 25,000th goal in the Premier League and Zlatan was at his sarcastic best in the post-match interview after the Swansea game.
Zlatan said that he is not worried about his form as United keep creating chances. “The goals will come,” he said. After being told by the interviewer that his was a landmark 25,000th goal Zlatan cheekily replied saying, “ I thought only me[I] scored 25,000 [goals].”
The Swede went on to say that he thought the game was rough in England and that every time he tried to play rough he ended up on the receiving end of a yellow card. Ibrahimovic will miss Manchester United’s crunch tie against Arsenal through suspension after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season for United.
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That being said, it was a good way to end the week for the Swedish striker after silencing his critics with a brace against Swansea and then escaping UEFA action for his antics in the Europa League and he should look to continue this form when he is back on the pitch.
It was rather fitting that the 25,000th landmark Premier League goal was scored by the enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a man who has done it all in his career. It was a good way to bounce back for Manchester United and Zlatan and silence some of the noise makers and doubters.
In some ways, it seems like this record was just waiting for Zlatan.
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