‘Disgusting’ - Aston Villa star hits out at Everton throwing incident as fan arrested

Mersyside Police took one person into custody following an incident in the 1-0 Goodison Park victory for Steve Gerrard’s men.
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A 19-year old Everton supporter was arrested by Merseyside Police on Saturday following an incident at Goodison Park where objects appeared to be thrown from the stands in the direction of Aston Villa players.

The Toffees lost 1-0 to their Premier League rivals with Emi Buendia scoring the only goal of the match just before half time.

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As the visiting players celebrated, objects appeared to be thrown onto the pitch in their direction with Matty Cash and former Everton defender Lucas Digne seemingly struck.

Both Everton FC and Merseyside Police have released statements on the incident while Aston Villa and England defender Tyrone Mings hit out at the section of supporters after the match, describing them as “disgusting”.

19 year-old man from Walton area arrested following incident at Premier League game

In an official statement on their club website, Everton FC said: “Police have arrested a supporter at Goodison Park for throwing a missile onto the pitch during today’s Premier League match against Aston Villa.

“Everton security staff and Merseyside Police identified the supporter using CCTV footage.

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“Several objects were thrown towards the pitch following Aston Villa’s goal at the end of the first half, with one missile appearing to strike two opposition players.

“Investigations in conjunction with the police are ongoing, and the Club will issue bans to any fans identified throwing objects.”

Merpol North Liverpool Police then sent out message via social media which confirmed the age of the supporter as well as adding that investigations were ongoing.

In a statement, the constabulary said: “A 19 year-old man from the Walton area has been arrested on suspicion of assault and throwing an item onto the pitch following an incident during the Everton v Aston Villa game at Goodison Park today, Saturday 22nd January.

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“The man was arrested after a bottle appeared to be thrown from the home supporters end of the stadium which hit a player on the pitch.

“The man is currently in custody where he will be questioned by officers.

“Enquiries continue to be carried out into other items being thrown on the pitch.”

Match commander Chief Superintendent Paul White said: “Behaviour such as this is not acceptable and clearly very dangerous and we will take all necessary action to find the person or people responsible and apprehend them. I would encourage anyone who has information about this incident to come forward and speak to us.”

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There are also appeals for anyone who witnessed the incident or have any information which could help the investigation being asked to DM @MerPolCC or @CrimestoppersUK or call 0800 555 111 quoting reference 22000051464.

“That’s all they’ve got” - Villa defender slams missile throwing fans

Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings pulled no punches in his post match reaction to the events at Goodison Park Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings pulled no punches in his post match reaction to the events at Goodison Park
Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings pulled no punches in his post match reaction to the events at Goodison Park

Aston Villa and England international defender Tyrone Mings spoke to BBC Match of the Day after the match where he labelled the supporters who appeared to throw the objects at his teammates as “disgusting”.

He said: “Disgusting really but it’s about all they’ve got isn’t it?

“They tried to make it ugly, tried to make it horrible and tried to make it an intimidating atmosphere for us to come into but we came here and got the three points so that will hopefully be dealt with by the people who need to deal with it.

“All we could do is get up and carry on.”