Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings said he did not mean to stand on Zlatan Ibrahimovic's head moments before he was elbowed by the Manchester United striker.
Ibrahimovic appeared fortunate to escape a red card for the first-half incident during Bournemouth's 1-1 Premier League draw at Old Trafford.
Bournemouth midfielder Andrew Surman was then dismissed for a second yellow card for pushing Ibrahimovic to the ground in the aftermath.
When asked whether he deliberately stamped on Ibrahimovic's head, Mings told Sky Sports: "Not at all. I would never do that. That's not in my game. Hard and fair is how I like to tackle but off the ball stuff like that isn't in my game.
"He (Ibrahimovic) is who he is, he's a good player, he's a physical player. I knew what sort of battle I was going to be in for coming here. And that's what we had all day, it was a battle.
"There was maybe an elbow when the ball came in after, I didn't see it, I felt it. But what happened after that with Surman getting sent off, I didn't see it."
Former Sweden international Ibrahimovic capped an eventful afternoon when he saw his 72nd-minute penalty saved by Artur Boruc after Adam Smith was penalised for handball. Marcus Rojo had earlier put United ahead but Josh King equalised from the penalty spot after Marc Pugh was brought down by Phil Jones.