Everton produced a monumental come back last night at Goodison Park to secure their safety in the Premier League, but their performance was marred by controversy after the final whistle.
Toffees striker Dominic Calvert Lewin superbly headed in from a free kick in the 85th minute to nudge Frank Lampard’s side 3-2 up after being down 2-0 at half time.
That goal sparked wild celebrations from the Everton faithful and the players and staff showed their jubilant on the touchline, but a handful of fans began to descend onto the Goodison turf, which was a sign of what was to come at the final whistle.
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As soon as referee Anthony Taylor blew the final whistle, the Goodison crowd instantly rushed onto the pitch, some armed with blue flares as they showed their delight after the club’s successful fight against relegation.
In the midst of the melee, Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira was taunted by an Everton fan, shouting and laughing at him as his team threw away a two goal lead. Vieira eventually lost his composure and lashed out at the Everton fan, kicking him to the floor.
This sparked a wide range of reaction from football fans around the country as this was not the first time a pitch invasion has ended with trouble, Sheffield United’s Billy Sharp was head-butted by a Nottingham Forrest fan earlier on in the week during a pitch invasion, and Blades striker Oli McBurnie was filmed kicking a fan on the same night.
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A Manchester United fan called into the talkSPORT Breakfast show demanding immediate action to be taken.
The fan, Danny said: “It’s not on is it, I mean they’ve got to do something quickly cause someone’s going to get really seriously hurt and it’s a shame.”
He then came up with a suggestion that would really hurt both the fans and the team if a pitch invasion happened again.
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He said: “The only way I can see it, which would really hurt these so called fans is that if anyone invades the pitch and you make it or don’t make it, you get a ten point deduction.”
“And that even goes to the top end, cause that can affect Champions League places and it can hurt them all around, therefore you wasn’t relegated but now you are relegated.”
Although a ten point deduction is extremely unlikely to happen, something has got to be done to prevent these kind of things happening again on a football pitch.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy/@SkySportsPL on TwitterTopics: Everton, Patrick Vieira, Crystal Palace, Premier League
