MONTREAL – In the wake of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s first MLS red card, LA Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid said he has no major concerns about the Swedish superstar demonstrating frustration recently.
“Zlatan is fine,” Schmid said after the Galaxy’s 1-0 win over the Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo on Monday. “We have good conversations and we talk. He’s been a pleasure to coach, it hasn’t been an issue.”
Schmid was asked if he has had to address Ibrahimovic’s dissatisfaction in the midst of the four-game losing streak that preceded Monday’s win, LA’s first since April 14.
Ibrahimovic scored three goals in his first three MLS games, including a spectacular brace in his Galaxy debut, a 4-3 comeback win against LAFC on March 31. He did not score during LA’s losing streak, though he had three assists in those games.
“We’ve talked about that and he wants to win and he’s more frustrated at us not being able to get results than anything else,” Schmid said.
The Galaxy went down a man after Ibrahimovic was sent off in the 41st minute Monday. After an incident that left both Ibrahimovic and Montreal’s Michael Petrasso on the ground, referee Ismail Elfath showed the 6-foot-5, 209-pound striker a red card after Video Review showed he had slapped the 5-foot-6, 163-pound defender’s head.
Petrasso, who was shown a yellow card, appeared to have stepped on Ibrahimovic’s foot.
“I think a lot of times when you have big players in Europe or even South America, there’s a little bit more respect for the big players,” Schmid said. “And the American league, MLS, is a little bit, ‘OK, well I’m going to show you,’ rather than a little bit of that respect. But I don’t know exactly what happened out there so I can’t say. But certainly people are going to challenge him.”
The incident was also missed by Ola Kamara, who scored for a fourth straight game in the 75th minute as the 10-men Galaxy held off the Impact in the second half to end their losing streak.
“To be honest, I didn’t see it and I haven’t seen it after so I can’t like comment on it, but of course it’s difficult when you go a man down,” Kamara said. “But I think the team reacted how you’re supposed to do, and it shows that we have that team spirit to even get three points with a man down.”
