Mourinho’s big miss: Ibrahimovic braced for three-game ban

Zlatan Ibrahimovic knows what’s coming. “I respect every decision,” he said on Saturday, when asked about the prospect of retrospective punishment for elbowing Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings in the face.

Manchester United’s top scorer will almost certainly receive a three-match domestic suspension when the FA reviews the television evidence. If he does, it will put him out of the FA Cup quarter-final trip to Chelsea, plus Premier League fixtures against Middlesbrough and West Brom.

Mings knows what is coming too. Ibrahimovic’s offence came a matter of seconds after the centre-back had stamped on the Swede’s head. There was some debate afterwards as to whether the action was deliberate; former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher suggested it was, while one journalist from Bournemouth argued Mings was just clumsy. The kindest thing that can be said in the defender’s favour is that he did not appear too bothered about avoiding Ibrahimovic, who had fallen to the floor after stumbling into Wayne Rooney.