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Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has been banned for eight games by the English Football Association (FA) after pushing referee Chris Kavanagh in his team’s ill-tempered FA Cup quarterfinal loss to Manchester United last month.
Mitrovic received a straight red card for his actions, but the FA previously said that the standard three-match ban was “clearly insufficient” on this occasion.
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The Serbia international’s dismissal came at the conclusion of a chaotic couple of minutes late in the second half, in which Willian was sent off for conceding a penalty for handling Jadon Sancho‘s effort on the goalline before Fulham manager Marco Silva was also shown a red card for remonstrating with officials.
Fulham, who were leading 1-0 at the time thanks to a Mitrovic goal, went on to lose 3-1 at Old Trafford.
Former Sheffield Wednesday forward Paulo Di Canio was banned for 11 games after shoving referee Paul Alcock to the ground during a Premier League match in 1998.
Silva, though, had called for a more lenient approach to be taken with Mitrovic.
“I saw the image and I spoke with Mitro, it is a moment for him to control the emotions,” Silva said following the match. “He pushed the referee, but I did not see that in so bad, bad way like you are saying to me. But I hope the people who are going to decide [do so] with fairness.”
Mitrovic has scored 11 goals in 21 Premier League games for Fulham this season, playing a key role in their unexpected challenge for a European place.