Arsenal closes in on bottle-throwing spectator

AFP

Arsenal says it has identified an "image" of the spectator who threw a bottle that hit Tottenham Hotspur's Dele Alli in Spurs' 2-0 League Cup quarterfinal victory over its bitter North London rival on Wednesday.

The England midfielder — who scored a delightful goal to put Spurs 2-0 up — was hit on the head as he took a throw-in on 73 minutes.

Arsenal said in a statement on Thursday the whole club had "been embarrassed by the incident" and "behavior of this type has no place at Emirates Stadium".

The Gunners had looked at the CCTV footage and had ascertained the offender had left after the incident and they had "identified an image of the suspect".  

Arsenal added once it had confirmed the identity of the fan it would pass on the offender's details to police so they could initiate legal proceedings and added the supporter faces a lengthy club ban.

"We are liaising with the Metropolitan Police and investigations continue in order to apprehend the culprit," read the Arsenal statement.

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino praised Alli's reaction to the incident in rubbing the back of his head and gesturing towards the Arsenal fans to indicate the scoreline.

"It was an amazing reaction," Pochettino said at his press conference on Thursday, ahead of Sunday's English Premier League trip to Everton.

"In another country maybe the player would create a problem. Dele was so honest and professional and he behaved really well.

"It was top behavior.

"Sometimes people criticize Dele for his actions on and off the pitch but it's good to praise him today."

Pochettino said the incident could have been worse.

"It's such a dangerous thing," the Argentine said. "There's no point when you go to enjoy a game and that happens.

"One person cannot create a mess in a club like Arsenal. Arsenal is going to take a big decision, with responsibility to fix. People have to behave and celebrate, and support your team but in the right way.

"It's not fair for Arsenal, the club, the fans to pay for one..."

Banana skin

The incident came after a Tottenham fan was banned for four years after being found guilty of throwing a banana skin at Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang when the teams met in an acrimonious EPL clash earlier this month, which Arsenal won 4-2.

The Metropolitan Police had charged four men following that incident.

Fellow London rival Chelsea banned four supporters this month pending a police investigation into alleged racial abuse of Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling in the sides' league fixture.

More embarrassment followed for Chelsea after UEFA launched an investigation into allegations of anti-Semitic chanting by its supporters during its final Europa League group match against Vidi FC in Budapest last week.

The EPL acknowledged that a number of fans had behaved "unacceptably" at matches and urged supporters to conduct themselves in a respectful manner.

Meanwhile, Pochettino's joy of goals by Son Heung-min and Alli to claim victory over Arsenal was rather diluted by the draw which pitted Tottenham against Chelsea in the semifinals with holder City almost certainly waiting in the final after it was paired with third-tier Burton Albion.

Tottenham has beaten London top-flight rivals Watford, West Ham United and Arsenal to reach the last four of the competition it won under coach Juande Ramos by beating Chelsea in the 2008 final — its last silverware.

It will now have to overcome Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea in what Pochettino says will be a "crazy" January.

The first leg will be played in the week of January 7 with the return on January 21, meaning Tottenham faces seven matches in the first month of next year, including a home EPL clash against Manchester United. That comes after nine matches in December.

Asked what it would mean to deliver Tottenham a long-awaited trophy, Pochettino said the challenge of winning silverware in England's fiercely competitive environment should not be underestimated.

"It's unfair to talk about winning titles in this competitive country, it's so difficult," Pochettino, who took Spurs to the League Cup final in 2015 but lost to Chelsea, told reporters after Tottenham's first win at Arsenal in eight years.

"The most important thing is to create a competitive team and I think the last few seasons we have done that. Then you need some luck.

"It's going to be crazy January. We are going now in a crazy period but January is going to be, I don't know, I don't want to think too much. People ask why managers rotate."