Arsenal are set to face an FA probe after Tottenham’s Dele Alli was struck on the head by a plastic bottle on Wednesday night.
The club was combing through CCTV footage for evidence of the moment Alli was hit by the missile, thrown by a fan, in the 72nd minute of Spurs’ 2-0 win which earned a semi-final against Chelsea.
The England midfielder had scored Tottenham’s second goal. After being struck by the bottle, he responded by signalling ‘2-0’ towards Arsenal fans as Spurs sealed their spot in the Carabao Cup last four. Manchester City will play League One Burton Albion in the other semi-final.
Dele Alli was struck by a plastic bottle during Wednesday night’s north London derby game
The Tottenham midfielder was angry as he turned to the Arsenal fans to see what was thrown
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino branded the person behind the incident ‘stupid’, adding: ‘It was lucky it wasn’t a big issue.
‘For me, we hate each other in a good way but that is in a bad way when you want to damage people, or an opponent.
‘Only one stupid person made a mistake. I respect Arsenal fans. I hope Arsenal can take some responsibility for the people through cameras and identify. It wasn’t a problem but it can be a big issue and then how do we fix it?
‘I think Arsenal will take responsibility to identify the person involved.’
Alli added: ‘It is what it is. It made the goal a little bit sweeter and the win.’
If caught, the person is likely to face a ban, but identification could prove difficult for the north London club’s security as this was not a match where season-ticket holders were in their usual seats.
This incident puts the spotlight on supporters once again, after recent events which have shamed English football.
One Tottenham fan was this week banned from football for four years in Highbury Magistrates Court and fined £500 after throwing a banana skin towards Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as he celebrated scoring a goal earlier this month when Arsenal won the League clash 4-2.
Chelsea fans were also accused of racially abusing Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling at Stamford Bridge when he went to retrieve the ball.
Alli could not resist ramping up the bad blood between the rivals with his own 2-0 gesture
Arsenal manager Unai Emery was asked about the thrown bottle and said: ‘I didn’t see. I think the atmosphere is good. But I didn’t see this. If there is one situation like that, it is not good behaviour.’
Pochettino also reserved special praise for Alli afterwards as he said: ‘In training he gets bored easily. He is a competitive animal and feels comfortable. In a competitive situation, he always gives his best. That is the quality he has and you cannot buy it in a supermarket.’
The Argentine also hailed his players as they ignored the talk of Manchester United wanting to steal their manager to inflict this defeat on Arsenal.
Son Heung-min and Alli scored the goals, with Spurs showing no lack of focus despite the intense speculation surrounding Pochettino’s future following the sacking of Jose Mourinho on Tuesday.
This victory moved Tottenham one step closer to lifting their first trophy since winning this competition under Juande Ramos in 2008 and Pochettino said: ‘It was very competitive, more like a final than a quarter-final. Tough.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos was the main Arsenal player trying to calm a furious Alli down
A steward walks off with the bottle that hit the Tottenham player on the back of the head
‘Arsenal have a great team. It is difficult to play here. A few weeks ago here we were disappointed and to change that emotion was important. That’s why I am so happy.
‘It’s unfair to talk about winning titles. In a competitive country it’s so difficult. The most important thing is to settle the principles (of the side) and create a competitive team. We are competitive.’
Alli added: ‘When we came here last time we didn’t get the result we wanted. But we wanted to get to the semi-finals and I think it was a strong performance from us in the end. We have to focus on the next game now, focus on the positives and not get carried away with ourselves. We play games to win and keep improving.’
Referee John Moss was quickly on the scene in a bid to stop players turning on each other
It was just Spurs’ second ever win at the Emirates Stadium and after Arsenal posted a 22-game unbeaten run in all competitions, they have now lost two on the spin following the 3-2 defeat at Southampton.
Emery decided to drop Mesut Ozil from his squad, despite the German being fully fit. He watched from the stands and Emery explained: ‘It is a tactical decision. The players I chose were the best to perform in this match. The decision is mine and it is tactical.
‘Tomorrow I train with every player, for a difficult match on Saturday (at home to Burnley). Every player is important. I’m happy with the performance but not the result.
‘It’s a process. We need to continue creating our identity, our strong idea to be more consistent. We finish in this competition but we think of Saturday. We have three other important competitions.’
Meanwhile, talking about the Alli incident after the full-time whistle, pundits Alex Scott and Jamie Redknapp said more needs to be done to stamp such behaviour out of the game.
Scott said: ‘It’s complete stupidity, I don’t know why this would come through your head. You don’t need to do this. You need to stamp down on this. You need to start banning people.
Sky pundits Jamie Redknapp and Alex Scott described the bottle throwing as ‘disgusting’
‘Why would you do this? This is the sort of thing we need to stomp out.’
For Redknapp it was ‘disgusting behaviour’ that needs to be tackled before something more dangerous is hurled at players.
‘It is obvious we are not doing enough to stamp racism out but if you come to the football to throw a bottle at a professional player it’s embarrassing,’ he said.
‘Don’t come. When you throw something at someone like that it is disgusting behaviour. It’s not good enough. Someone will throw a coin and it could take a player’s eye out.’
FOOTBALL’S RECENT CONTROVERSIES
This incident on Wednesday night puts the spotlight on supporters once again, after recent events which have shamed English football.
Chelsea fans have been involved in a number of controversies in recent weeks, including alleged racism aimed at Raheem Sterling, and offensive chanting at a Europa League match.
The suspension of four Chelsea supporters came after they were caught on television hurling abuse at Manchester City forward Sterling during their Premier League clash on December 8.
Sterling spoke to the Metropolitan Police following the abuse, which he said included racist insults. In a statement on Instagram, the England international said he ‘had to laugh’ at the attack as he ‘expects no better’.
One of the fans was identified as 60-year-old Colin Wing, who denied racially abusing Sterling. No arrests have yet been made an investigations by the police, FA and Chelsea are ongoing.
Chelsea’s week of shame was compounded with images of a ‘Nazi’ banner on social media
Last Thursday, a section of Chelsea fans were heard singing anti-Semitic chants during their Europa League draw away to Hungarian club MOL Vidi.
There were also pictures circulated on social media which showed a group with a Chelsea flag that was also decorated with Nazi-inspired insignia.
UEFA have opened an investigation into the chanting, which Chelsea criticised in a strongly-worded statement.
One Tottenham fan was this week banned from football for four years in Highbury Magistrates Court and fined £500 after throwing a banana skin towards Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as he celebrated scoring a goal earlier this month when Arsenal won the League clash 4-2.
Averof Panteli, 57, was fined £500 and banned. He claimed he picked up the skin in anger from the floor and threw it at the Gabon international, who had just scored the opening goal in Arsenal’s 4-2 victory.
A banana skin was thrown towards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after he scored against Spurs
Brighton and Crystal Palace fans were involved in violent clashes ahead of their Premier League fixture at the start of the month.
Fans reportedly clashed at Brighton station ahead of the game known as the ‘M23 Derby’, with police having to step in.
Similarly ugly scenes occurred before last season’s game at the AMEX Stadium, where 150 Palace fans were refused entry to the ground despite having tickets.
Local Brighton newspaper The Argus reported both sets of fans fought with officers as they boarded trains to the stadium. It also claimed there was a small section of away supporters singing homophobic chants directed at home fans. Some Palace fans are said to have escaped from a police escort and attacked Albion supporters outside a pub before being restrained.
Brighton and Crystal Palace fans were involved in violent clashes earlier this month