Manchester United remained sixth in the Premier League with a draw against 10-man Bournemouth in a match that had two unpleasant incidents involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Tyrone Mings.
Both occurred towards the end of the first half after the players had earlier been warned by referee Kevin Friend for an off-the-ball incident.
First, Mings appeared to land on the back of the head of the United forward as he lay on the ground, and then from a corner, Ibrahimovic appeared to elbow the Cherries defender.
That last incident was witnessed by Mings’ team-mates, including midfielder Andrew Surman who pushed the Swedish striker to the ground.
He was consequently shown a yellow card, which Friend realised was his second after a long delay. The official eventually pulled out his red card.
That followed a period of United domination, and they took the lead when Marcos Rojo diverted Antonio Valencia’s strike past keeper Artur Boruc.
The visitors—with only one win in 11—then grabbed a shock equaliser when Joshua King converted from the spot after Phil Jones had brought down Marc Pugh.
United then won a penalty in the 71st minute when Adam Smith handled Paul Pogba’s flick. But from the resulting spot-kick Boruc, magnificent during the match, dived to his right to keep out Ibrahimovic’s effort.
Bournemouth hung on to earn their first league point in five games, but it is the incidents involving Ibrahimovic and Mings that will dominate the back pages.
