A football fan was arrested after two Aston Villa players appeared to be struck by a bottle thrown from the crowd as they celebrated their team’s goal in the 1-0 win at Everton in the Premier League.
One of the players was Lucas Digne, who recently joined Villa from Everton.
He fell to the ground and clutched his head before eventually getting to his feet and playing on.
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The other Villa player who appeared to be struck was Matty Cash.
Everton said in a statement that the supporter was arrested by police after he was identified using CCTV footage.
“Several objects were thrown toward the pitch following Aston Villa’s goal at the end of the first half, with one missile appearing to strike two opposition players,” Everton said.
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“Investigations in conjunction with the police are ongoing, and the club will issue bans to any fans identified throwing objects.”
The Villa players were celebrating in front of a section of Everton fans when the objects were thrown.
Digne, a France left back, completed a move to Villa from Everton last week after falling out with manager Rafa Benitez, who has since been fired.
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This was his second game for Villa.
The shameful incident was just one of many unusual occurrences in the Premier League.
Few could have expected Manchester City to fail to win at Southampton, with a 1-1 draw ending the leaders’ 12 match winning run that stretched back to October 30.
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City is ahead of Liverpool by 12 points but the Reds have played two games fewer, meaning there is still some life in the title race.
Before a 1-0 win at Leeds, Newcastle’s only previous victory in its 23 games in all competitions this season was against Burnley on December 4.
Beating Leeds wasn’t enough to lift the Saudi-owned northeast team out of the relegation zone, yet it might be the start of a late season resurgence for Newcastle — especially if more signings come in before the end of January.
Most bizarre of all was the sight of players from Brentford and Wolverhampton being led off the field by the referee because a drone was hovering above the pitch in their match in west London.
Play was suspended for nearly 20 minutes in a match Wolves ended up winning 2-1.
In other games, Marcus Rashford scored in the third and final minute of stoppage time to snatch a 1-0 win for Manchester United against West Ham, lifting the team to fourth place. Aston Villa won 1-0 at Everton.
CITY HELD
City needed a 65th minute header by Aymeric Laporte to earn a point at St Mary’s, after Southampton took the lead through Kyle Walker-Peters in the seventh.
Kevin De Bruyne, who supplied the cross for Laporte’s goal, and substitute Gabriel Jesus hit the same post in the second half for City, for whom Raheem Sterling had a gilt-edged chance from close range saved by Fraser Forster before halftime.
Southampton’s players defended stoutly after the break, just like they did when collecting a 0-0 draw at Etihad Stadium in September.
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SECOND WIN
Newcastle is heading to Saudi Arabia during the winter break on the back of a big win in its fight for survival.
Jonjo Shelvey’s low, curling free kick flew past a slew of outstretched legs in the area and squeezed into the far corner of the net in the 75th minute at Elland Road.
Eddie Howe’s team is only one point from safety with a game in hand on fourth-to-last Norwich, which won at Watford.
“It was a heroic effort,” Howe said, “in the sense that we committed everything to the game and I thought the players were outstanding.”
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RANGNICK’S GAMBLE
United ended the game against West Ham with four strikers on the field in something of a throwback to better days at the club under Alex Ferguson.
Much to Ralf Rangnick’s delight, they combined for the clinching goal that came so late it was almost in what was once known as “Fergie Time.”
After the ball broke free, Cristiano Ronaldo passed the ball forward to one sub, Anthony Martial, who slipped in another, Edinson Cavani, who crossed for another, Rashford, to tap home at the far post.
There was a slight concern that Cavani had been in an offside position but the goal stood after a VAR check and United could celebrate a second win in four days.
“An extremely emotional moment if you score in the last second of the game,” Rangnick said, “knowing that there is no time anymore for the other team to reply.”
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