How many games will Mitrovic miss? Fulham star sent off for shoving referee at Man United

During the Cottagers' FA Cup game against Manchester United at Old Trafford, the Serbian reacted angrily to Kavanagh awarding the hosts a penalty and sending Willian off for handball on the line.

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Fulham were leading 1-0 at the time, but it was an obvious handball, and as Kavanagh walked back from the VAR screen, Mitrovic pushed the referee and was sent off and the striker could be out for a long time.

It proved to be a crucial turning point in the game as Man United scored the resulting penalty and went on to win 3-1 and to dump the Cottagers out of the competition with Mitrovic earlier giving them the lead.

How many games will Mitrovic miss?

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A red card for anything other than the denial of a goalscoring opportunity or two bookable offences comes with a three-match ban.

This is because any other offence is deemed to be violent conduct and pushing a referee is almost certainly violent.

However, the striker is likely to be banned for longer, based on past incidents.

In 2017, ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo received a five-game ban after he pushed Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea during a Spanish Super Cup match.

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Ronaldo received a second yellow card from the referee after he was deemed to dive in the box.

The Portuguese superstar reacted angrily and shoved the official.

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The Spanish footballing authorities dished out a five-game ban for Ronaldo, so Mitrovic can expect further punishment.

There was also talk of a five-match ban for Bruno Fernandes after Man United's 7-0 defeat to Liverpool.

The Red Devils star pushed the assistant referee but escaped a ban despite the chief executive of Ref Support UK, Martin Cassidy, calling for a lengthy ban.

Therefore, it is extremely likely that we won't be seeing Fulham's top goalscorer for quite some time.

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Marco Silva's side have games against Bournemouth, West Ham and Everton coming up and they will definitely be without Mitrovic for them and we might not see him until the end of April.

It is now up to the Football Association to decide just how many matches Mitrovic will miss for his ridiculous decision to push the referee.