Raheem Sterling and boss Gareth Southgate hit out at England fans for BOOING Joe Gomez during win over Montenegro, after City star applauded team-mate on to the pitch days after canteen row rocked Three Lions camp
- Joe Gomez came off the bench and replaced Mason Mount in second half
- There were a few boos in the crowd at Wembley as he made his way onto pitch
- The fallout from Raheem Sterling altercation still appears to be rumbling on
- Sterling applauded Gomez when he came on and the situation was an odd one
Raheem Sterling has hit out at the England fans who bizarrely booed Joe Gomez when he came on in the 7-0 hammering of Montenegro.
Gomez was greeted by a chorus of boos as he ran onto the pitch in Thursday night’s 7-0 demolition of Montenegro.
After the final whistle, Sterling took to Twitter and wrote: ‘To all the England fans, I wanted to leave things at it was but tonight I have to speak again: it was hard for me to see my team mate get booed for something that was my fault.
Joe Gomez came on for Mason Mount in the second half and was booed by some fans
‘Joe hasn’t done anything wrong & for me to see someone who keeps his head down and work hard especially after a difficult week for him to be booed when he came on tonight was wrong.
‘I’ve taken full responsibility and accepted the consequence. I felt as though I had to say this get home safe every one.’
The Liverpool defender was at the centre of a storm in the build-up to the match after his altercation with Raheem Sterling at the team hotel on Monday, as revealed by Sportsmail, although he was the victim of an unprovoked attack by his team-mate, as Gareth Southgate later clarified.
Sterling was dropped from the Montenegro game as a punishment for the bust-up, which came less than 24 hours after their clash during Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Manchester City at Anfield.
Raheem Sterling (right) applauded Gomez when he made his way onto the pitch
Southgate’s decision has been widely criticised and some England fans opted to take sides by aiming vitriol at Gomez, a 22-year-old winning his eighth cap.
The jeers seemed even more bizarre given Sterling applauded Gomez from the stands when he was brought on, in a clear indication that their wounds have healed.
Sterling holds no grudges against Southgate and was surprised to hear the England boss suggest on Wednesday he had ‘got the hump’.
The forward has moved on from the furore and is keen not to let it impact upon the pair’s working relationship.
But the manager was at pains to point out that Gomez was not remotely culpable for the altercation with Sterling earlier in the week.
There were clearly audible boos and Sterling said it was hard to hear them at Wembley
Gomez was the victim of the row at the start of the week but was booed by some fans
He had attempted to make a bee-line for the Manchester City winger to shake his hand in the canteen, smoothing over their dispute from Liverpool’s win over the Premier League champions on Sunday.
Sterling was still emotional from the skirmish with Gomez at Anfield and the frustration of losing a key game to title rivals.
He angrily confronted the bemused defender, who received a scratch which may have been from another team-mate separating the pair.
Southgate took the decision to drop Sterling for the Montenegro clash, a move that divided opinion in the England camp, with some backing the hardline stance and others, including Gomez, lobbying the manager to let the winger play.
Gareth Southgate said he would be sitting down with Gomez to check he is alright
He will return to the fold against Kosovo on Sunday and Southgate will hope the whole episode can be put to bed.
England will travel for their final group game having already sealed qualification against Montenegro on Thursday.
They hammered the visitors in a 7-0 demolition with Harry Kane netting a hat-trick and registering on the scoresheet alongside Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Marcus Rashford and Tammy Abraham.