Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has received a three-match suspension for elbowing Leeds United‘s Ben White.
Fulham Striker Suspended for Three Matches After Incident Against Leeds United
Aleksandar Mitrovic Punished Retrospectively
The 25-year-old caught White with his elbow after just three minutes against the Whites.
Referee Tony Harrington did not see the incident at the time, but the FA have punished the Serbian retrospectively after he accepted a charge of violent conduct.
The suspension means Mitrovic will miss Tuesday’s west London derby at Queens Park Rangers, as well as matches with Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest.
Mitrovic is the current joint-top scorer in the Championship with 23 goals this campaign.
Fulham were unable to slow down Leeds United’s promotion charge as they were beaten comfortably.
Scott Parker’s side have now lost both of their matches since the Championship‘s restart on June 20.
It leaves the London outfit fifth in the table and seven points below the automatic promotion places.
Speaking afterwards, Parker stated that he had not seen the Mitrovic incident but back-to-back defeats could harm Fulham’s chances of automatic promotion.
He said: “I think it is going to be a big ask to go up automatically.
“I wouldn’t write it off because the unexpected could happen with the way the division is and games are.”
He added: “I think overall the performance in the first half was exceptional. We took the game to a very good side.
“I thought we were superb then but over the course of the game we needed to be more clinical.”
With Leeds edging closer to a promotion, head coach Marcelo Bielsa praised his players for the confident 3-0 win.
He said: “In the first half it was difficult for us to recover the ball in the opponents’ half and when we were close to our box we lost it again quickly.
“That is why the first half was better for them than for us. In the second half it was better.
“The win was necessary for us and very important.”
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