There were plenty of fireworks in an eight-goal thriller Saturday night at BMO Field, but a must-win game for Toronto FC and the LA Galaxy led to some testy moments between Michael Bradley and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Late in the match, following a harsh tackle by Ema Boateng on Marky Delgado, Bradley ran to referee Nima Saghafi to protest the challenge, looking for a card. Saghafi booked Boateng, but Ibahimovic took umbrage with Bradley.
It was a animated conversation that began before the restart and continued up the field. And led to some more barbs after Toronto FC’s 5-3 victory.
“He thinks he is the philosopher of football,” Ibrahimovic said of Bradley in the LA Galaxy locker room. “I have more goals than he has games. He should follow my rules.”
In the nearby home locker room, Bradley wasn’t in much of a mood to answer questions about Ibrahimovic, who scored his 500th career goal in the the first half and later signed a fan's face.
“You're very interested in Zlatan these last few days?” he quipped back at the reporter.
“I'm not worried about perfect. I'm not worried about Zlatan,” added Bradley. “I'm worried about three points tonight.”
Toronto got them.
