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An Arsenal fan was arrested on Saturday following his club’s 2-1 home loss to Manchester United after red wine was thrown on the Manchester United bench. The incident occurred soon after United took the lead courtesy a own-goal from Kieran Gibbs. Wayne Rooney then all but sealed the win for the Red Devils with an 85th-minute goal, while Oliver Giroud scored a late consolation for the Gunners.
The club officials called in stewards in attendance and used CCTV camera to spot the culprit. They have promised to co operate with the Metropolitan Police and impose a club ban on anyone who would be proven guilty.
As expected, the wine attack wasn’t taken amusingly at the United bench and it is still not clear whether the Manchester-based club will would make an official complaint.
Over the years, there has been a growing concern for teams visiting the Emirates stadium, especially with regards to the support staff who are seated in the open in front of the spectators.
United’s legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson has earlier spoken about giving better facilities to visiting teams at the north London club, calling their fans “nasty” .
“It is too open for my liking. It should not happen when you build a modern stadium. You need tin helmets. It is a weakness in the planning that you don’t provide safety for the visiting substitutes and staff.” he had said.
Sack Wenger placard carried around
Following Rooney’s goal, a fan was seen carrying a placard that asked for the sacking of manager Arsene Wenger. The stewards took the placard away, as per the club’s policy to remove such items on safety grounds because they risk sparking argument among fans.
If the loss wasn’t bad enough for the Gunners, they now have to wait to find out whether their key man Jack Wilshere faces any lay-off on disciplinary or fitness grounds. He was involved in an incident with United midfielder Marouane Fellaini in the first half and it is now up to the Football Association(FA) whether to take any action on him after having a look at the footage. The on-field referee Mike Dean, however, didn’t book the Englishman.
The 22-year-old had to leave the field in the second half after injuring his ankle, following a challenge from United defender Paddy McNair.
Wenger didn’t sound optimistic about Wilshere’s participation in their Champions League fixture against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, but felt that goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny’s chances of starting against Dortmund were bright.
