Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have apologized to Aston Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen after he was assaulted during a pitch invasion as the club’s fans celebrated winning the Premier League title
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard revealed that the player was “attacked” as City fans stormed onto the field after the final whistle of their 3-2 victory over Liverpool.City issued a statement in which they “sincerely apologized” to Olsen, and footage showed him being struck on the back of the head.
“I sincerely apologize,” Guardiola said. “I spoke about what happened in the Sheffield United game [when forward Billy Sharp was headbutted by a Nottingham Forest season-ticket holder] in the press conference yesterday.”
“On behalf of the club, I sincerely apologize to Olsen and Aston Villa. “It’s never easy to understand why people act the way they do.” Any fans who are identified will face indefinite stadium bans.
When asked if his players were unharmed during the celebrations, Gerrard replied, “The answer is no.” My goalkeeper was beaten. I believe those questions should be directed at Pep [Guardiola] and Manchester City. ” Gerrard then excused himself from the press conference to check on Olsen’s condition.
Watch the moment he was attacked:
In scenes that capped an unsavory week of fan disorder and threatened to overshadow City’s second consecutive title, the Etihad Stadium announcer asked fans to return to their seats.
Aside from the assault on Sharp by a Nottingham Forest fan, who was sentenced on Thursday, police are looking into a clash between Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira and a supporter at Goodison Park after Everton secured their Premier League status in midweek.
After Palace’s 1-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday, Vieira insisted that more needed to be done to protect players and staff, saying what happened to him on Merseyside was “bigger than just that incident.” “There were a lot of field invasions that could cause trouble in the Premier League,” he said.
There are real issues here to consider and determine the best way to manage and deal with them. You never know what might happen. When you don’t know what’s going to happen, you’re afraid of everything, including the players. “
We want to be safe, and the best way to do that is to think about how to prevent those kinds of things from happening on the field. “As a coach, manager, player, or member of staff, we want to feel safe at work. I believe the FA and Premier League are dealing with a major issue.
