Lucas Digne’s return to Goodison Park was very hectic this Saturday. Whistled before the match by Everton supporters, whom he left on bad terms during the current transfer window to join West Ham, the French international was then the target of a bottle throw from the stands.
Digne and team-mate Matty Cash were hit by the projectile, seconds after the 28-year-old international left-back opened the scoring for the Villans. In added time of the first period, a corner kicked in by Digne was deflected by Emiliano Buendia to deceive Jordan Pickford in the only goal of this match of the 23rd day of the Premier League (0-1).
???????? Lucas Worthy passer and Aston Villa take the 3 points from Everton!
⚽️ The goal and the debrief of the meeting ????#PremierLeague #EVEAVL pic.twitter.com/kcTAjojsf3
— Canal Football Club (@CanalFootClub) January 22, 2022
As the Villa players gathered in the corner where the corner had been taken to congratulate each other, a plastic bottle hit the two players who went down briefly, before play resumed.
Recent precedents in England and France
Two weeks ago, Crystal Palace’s French player Michael Olise was also hit in the head by a plastic bottle thrown by Millwall fans during an FA Cup match.
On November 21, the Ligue 1 match between Lyon and Marseille was interrupted because of a projectile thrown at Dimitri Payet. The meeting, stopped after four minutes of play, will have to be replayed behind closed doors on the OL pitch, sanctioned with a penalty point in the standings.
