Ibrahimovic fell to the ground at that moment.
He turned around and furiously slapped the turf.
The incident should have ended there, as the referee blew his whistle.
But then, the entire Sporting Lisbon team was enraged.
Because the referee didn't award a penalty, but a free kick instead.
You have to understand, the place where Ibrahimovic was tripped was absolutely inside the penalty area.
This should have been a penalty kick.
"No, no, no, referee, I think you must have seen it, Ibrahimovic was fouled inside the penalty area," Deng Kai charged at the referee immediately.
But Ibrahimovic's temper was even more fiery, he sprung up from the ground and charged at the referee: "Free kick? This damned thing is definitely a penalty! I never dive!"
At one meter ninety-five Ibrahimovic, looking fierce and formidable, and somewhat unable to stop himself, had slight physical contact with the referee.
The referee immediately pulled out a yellow card.
