The Manchester United striker has attempted to play down his clash with the Everton defender in Sunday's fixture
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has explained why he kicked Seamus Coleman in the
head during Manchester United's draw at Everton, insisting it wasn't a
deliberate incident.
The 35-year-old scored the visitors' goal at Goodison Park with a
brilliant first-half lob, but was frustrated when Leighton Baines
claimed a point for Ronald Koeman's side with a penalty one minute from
time.
Sunday's match also saw Ibrahimovic involved in a heavy challenge
with Everton defender Coleman - who later had to be substituted - and
his foot made contact with the Republic of Ireland international's head
in the aftermath.
But Ibrahimovic has stressed there was no intent in what was a hard-fought battle on Merseyside with the prospect of a retrospective ban looming large should the FA deem otherwise.
"They played hard and I heard one of the commentators say I kicked someone in the head on purpose," Ibrahimovic told MUTV.
"It was a 50-50 duel. He pulled me down and I tried to avoid touching him."
The draw means United have only won two of their past 11 Premier
League matches, a run Ibrahimovic knows is unacceptable if the club are
to challenge for the title - or even make the top four.
"It was very disappointing obviously, because the last couple of
games in the league have not had the outcome that we wanted especially
after a good performance," added the striker.
"We controlled the game, not 100 per cent, but most of it and I think
we did good until 70 minutes. Then I think we were not playing our
normal game, we lost confidence and we lost the two points.
"The positive is we didn't lose the match. That's the positive. We
know we need to win. You want to reach the Champions League and win the
competition [the league title] and you need to get three points to do
that.
"I would be more confident if we were higher up in the table because that's what we play for."
In-form Ibrahimovic's goal was his sixth in five matches across all
competitions, but the Sweden great would have sacrificed scoring if it
meant United took all three points.
"I went for the run in the space and got a fantastic ball from [Anthony] Martial," added the former Paris Saint-Germain star.
"I saw the goalkeeper come out and I just tried to time it good and
went to touch the ball. It hit the post, hit the bar and in the end it
went in.
"I scored but in the end it only got me and the team one point. I
would prefer not to score but win the game, that's my way of thinking.
We have to fight more and do more to get the three points we need."
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