In Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Bournemouth Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Tyrone Mings went at it all game long and things boiled over.
Big time.
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After some early tussles Mings appeared to stamp on Ibrahimovic’s head as he was on the floor and moments later when a corner came in the Swedish striker swung his elbow at Mings in what looked like an act of retribution.
Take a look at the video above to make up your own mind up, while Mings told Sky Sports after the game that he didn’t meant to stamp on Zlatan.
“No, not at all, I would never do that. That’s not in my game,” Mings said. “Hard and fair is how I like to tackle but off the ball stuff like that isn’t part of my game.”
Wayne Rooney, who was right next the initial incident, thinks otherwise.
“I was right there. It’s wrong in football, it’s wrong,” Rooney said. “To try and stamp on a players head it is wrong and there is no place for it. I’m sure there will be punishment after the game. I’ve been on the end of studs to the head and it is not nice. I’m sure the right punishment will be given.”
United’s manager Jose Mourinho didn’t want to get too involved in the post-match talk about the incidents (perhaps because he knows Zlatan could well be handed a retrospective ban) but he did have his say on Mings and at half time of the game he was shown having a stern word with the Bournemouth defender as the teams emerged from the tunnel.
“If you ask me if I’m happy if Tyrone Mings gets four or five matches ban, I really don’t care,” Mourinho said. “He knows what he did, he knows better than anyone what he did. He knows better than the referee the intention or the emotion of the moment.”
Mings was asked about going head-to-head with Ibrahimovic and seemed to enjoyed the battle.
“He is who he is, he is a good player, a physical player. I knew what sort of battle I was going to be in for coming here, playing against him. That’s what we had all day, it was a battle. There was maybe an elbow when the ball came in after. I didn’t see it. I felt it. What happened after that with Surman getting sent off, I didn’t see.”
Did Mings feel like Zlatan was coming after him after the stamp incident?
“I had that feeling for the rest of the game, for the whole game,” Mings laughed. “He is a physical guy and it was a good test. It was a good battle all day.”
