Ibrahimovic Hit With Ban After Neck Grab

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been suspended for two games after grabbing New York City FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson by the neck during Los Angeles Galaxy’s defeat last weekend, Major League Soccer said Friday.

The MLS Disciplinary Committee announced in a statement it was sanctioning Ibrahimovic for violent conduct after the incident in the 86th minute of the game on May 11.

Ibrahimovic and Johnson wrestled each other to the floor after coming together in the closing stages of Galaxy’s defeat last week.

Both players received a yellow card for the incident for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Johnson later accused Ibrahimovic of losing his cool.

“Zlatan is a talented player, he obviously knows what he is doing, he is a clever boy and you know, it is a part of the game,” Johnson said.

“I would be frustrated if I were him too, you know. Can’t blame him for his frustration at that point in the game,” the goalkeeper added.

It is the second retrospective sanction Ibrahimovic has received in recent weeks.

He was hit with an undisclosed fine on May 10 after being found guilty of diving during his team’s loss against Columbus Crew.

Ibrahimovic was also involved in a stormy on-pitch altercation with Real Salt Lake’s Nedum Onuoha last month.

Onuoha later claimed Ibrahimovic had been making threats towards him during the match before later apologising.

“From 60 minutes in, he’s saying to me what he’s going to do me, he’s going to hurt me,” Onuoha said afterward.

“And this is the guy who’s the face of the MLS, as he calls himself, but this is the way he plays on the field.”