Gary Neville reckons that Zlatan Ibrahimovic was lucky to escape censure for this tangle with Irish captain Seamus Coleman. In the early stages of the second half, Coleman beat the Swedish striker to the ball, only for a clash to follow when Zlatan chased him. They tangled, with Ibrahimovic awkwardly shoving Coleman to the ground. Ibrahimovic fell on Coleman, and, when rolling away, seemed to needlessly thrust his boot towards Coleman's face.
Neville said on Sky commentary that Ibra knew exactly what he was doing. Do you agree that it is deliberate? Here is the frame-by -frame:
Zlatan rolls over Coleman for a short-cut, but keep an eye on his left foot as he prepares to get up
He raises it as if to get up...
...only to bring it down on Coleman's face
Coleman stayed down for a couple of minutes, and was able to play on for another ten minutes before he had to be subbed for Matthew Holgate. Coleman was evidently rattled by the coming-together, as it takes quite a bit to convince Coleman to leave a game early.
The kick to the face doesn't seem to have caused the injury, however. It appears more to be a rib problem, perhaps as a result of Zlatan's full weight falling on him.
Weight of Zlatan falling on you can't be good. Looks like he's really struggling Coleman. Broken ribs??
— Alan Cawley (@alancaw) December 4, 2016
Let's hope the injury doesn't take Coleman out of action for too long: Wales are in Dublin next March, and we are already without Robbie Brady.
See Also: Jamie Carragher's Strong Words For Loris Karius On Sky After Liverpool's Defeat To Bournemouth
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Weight of Zlatan falling on you can't be good. Looks like he's really struggling Coleman. Broken ribs??
— Alan Cawley (@alancaw) December 4, 2016
