Saturday’s eight-goal thriller between Toronto FC and the LA Galaxy saw the defending MLS champs pick up a crucial three points. It also saw the Galaxy fight back from a three-goal deficit, a wonder goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and a spat between the Swede and Toronto FC captain Michael Bradley.
Ibrahimovic took exception to Bradley’s actions in the 92nd minute of the match, after it looked like the USMNT midfielder was trying to referee Nima Seghafi to issue a yellow card after Galaxy midfielder Ema Boateng fouled Toronto’s Marky Delgado.
A clearly frustrated Ibrahimovic walked into Bradley’s path to Seghafi and the two exchanged words for a good while, mostly consisting of Ibrahimovic yelling expletives at Bradley. The exchange continued on before TFC sealed a 5-3 victory with a late goal by Jay Chapman.
Ibrahimovic wasn’t done with Bradley after the match, taking a jab at the former USMNT captain.
“He thinks he is the philosopher of football,” Ibrahimovic said. ” I have more goals than he has games. He should follow my rules.”
The Swede netted his 500th career goal after his scissor kick beat Alex Bono in the first-half. It was a terrific piece of skill from Ibrahimovic who helped spark a slight comeback in the match. Even the Toronto faithful applauded his goal, which did not go unnoticed to the 36-year-old striker.
“It’s not the first time I’ve gotten a standing ovation from the away team,” Ibrahimovic said. “Not many guys have scored 500 goals in a career so now I am one of them, it would’ve been better if we won the game but it’s something I am not going to hide from.”
As for TFC, the win helped the defending champion bounce back from a pair of defeats and sees them nine points back of sixth place with six matches to play.
Bradley stressed the importance of the victory for Toronto in his postmatch remarks, stating he wasn’t worried about Zlatan or the dust-up between them.
“I’m not worried about perfect, I’m not worried about Zlatan, I’m just worried about three points,” Bradley said.
On Monday, Bradley addressed the incident on ESPN’s Max and Herc Podcast:
“He’s not the first guy and he won’t be the last guy to not like me.”
During an interview on the Max & Herc Podcast, Michael Bradley responded to Ibrahimovic’s comments. pic.twitter.com/sgIkiD3Fqp
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 17, 2018