“He’s saying he’s going to do me, he’s going to hurt me for that game”
Zlatan Ibrahimović had a confrontation with former Manchester City and QPR defender Nedum Onuoha following LA Galaxy 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake.
Ibrahimović scored his 34th goal in 30 games for Galaxy on Sunday night, to win them the game. But instead of celebrating, the striker instead went to confront Salt Lake’s Onuha.
3️⃣4️⃣ GAMES. 3️⃣0️⃣ GOALS.@Ibra_official, 👑 of @MLS. pic.twitter.com/2yCIlYymAI
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) April 29, 2019
Onuha and Ibrahimović had been ill-tempered towards each other for the entire game – earlier in the match, Ibrahimović had dragged the defender to the ground by putting his hand to Onuoha’s neck.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic went into the locker room apparently to apologize to Nedum Onuoha for fouling and taunting him during the game. Nedum wanted no part of his apology. #mls #RSL #rsltid pic.twitter.com/F2zcmPTbC2
— Jeremiah Jensen (@JeremiahJensen) April 29, 2019
After the game, Ibrahimović was captured coming into the Real Salt Lake dressing room, seemingly to apologise to Onuoha. However, Onuoha refused to accept Zlatan’s apology, and the two had to be separated.
“He can in to apologise after the game,” said Onuoha in a post-match interview, “because from 60 minutes in, he’s saying he’s going to do me, he’s going to hurt me for that game.”
“This is a guy who’s the face of the MLS, as he calls himself. But this is the way that he plays on the field. So I don’t care if someone comes in and says that to me, you don’t say that on the field. I don’t care, I’m not going to accept his apology, it is not acceptable.”
Nedum Onuoha explains to @syarock what happened when Zlatan came into the @realsaltlake locker room and why he didn't accept Zlatan's apology. #RSL #mls #rsltid pic.twitter.com/RNH36Olpv7
— Jeremiah Jensen (@JeremiahJensen) April 29, 2019
👀 👀 👀
Zlatan goes to have a conversation with Nedum Onuoha in the #RSL locker room after #LAGalaxy's 2-1 win in Carson tonight. #MLS pic.twitter.com/Nc8ggQuQ9D
— Salt City FC (@saltcityfc) April 29, 2019
Ibrahimović himself brushed the incident off, in typical laidback Zlatan style, telling reporters “I went to shake hands with him. No big issues.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic on his celebration on the #LAGalaxy’s second goal and #RSL’s Nedum Onuoha: “I went to shake hands with him. No big issues.” pic.twitter.com/Lm7oEmeHPc
— Adam Serrano (@AdamSerrano) April 29, 2019
LA Galaxy took the lead early on, with a strike from Uriel Antuna. Real Salt Lake levelled the game early in the second half with an equaliser from Donny Toia, before Ibrahimović sealed the victory with twelve minutes to go.
