A football fan has been charged with assault after two Aston Villa players were floored by a bottle thrown from the crowd at Everton’s Goodison Park.
Roger Tweedle, of Cranehurst Road, Walton, is accused of throwing a bottle that left Villa players Lucas Digne - a former Everton player - and Matty Cash on the ground on Saturday.
The alleged incident occurred as Aston Villa celebrated a goal in the first half of the match.
The 19-year-old, who is also charged with throwing an item onto the pitch, has been released on conditional bail.
Aston Villa's Lucas Digne (left) and Matty Cash (right) on the ground after a missile struck both
Peter Byrne
He will appear at South Sefton Magistrates Court on February 28.
The game was Duncan Ferguson’s first in charge of his second spell as Everton caretaker manager following the dismissal of Rafael Benitez.
After the match, Mr Ferguson said: “I never saw the bottles thrown, I’ve been told after and we don’t want that, it is bang out of order.
“That is not the way to do things. It is totally wrong.”
Villa manager, Steven Gerrard, said he had not seen the incident and that his players had not let it distract them from the task at hand.
He said: “None of the players have mentioned it. We scored at an important time. The players never let it affect them, they focused on the performance.
“I haven’t seen it so I don’t want to comment on anything which may or may not have happened. The important thing is we focused on resetting the performance and never let it affect us.”
Elsewhere, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has urged fans to curb their risky behaviour to protect English football’s “unique atmosphere” after Antonio Rudiger was struck by a lighter thrown from the away supporters during Sunday’s win over Tottenham.
Chelsea's Thiago Silva (centre) celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game with Romelu Lukaku and Antonio Rudiger (right) during the Premier League match at Stamford Bridge, London.
Nick Potts
Rudiger was hit during the Blues’ 2-0 Premier League victory at Stamford Bridge, earned thanks to second-half goals from Hakim Ziyech and Thiago Silva.
Chelsea boss Tuchel released a message this week after the Blues beefed up security and rules after several recent pitch invasions.
And, after Rudiger was hit by an object thrown from the crowd, the Blues’ German boss admitted English football needed to safeguard its interaction between players, coaches and fans.
Asked if recent events had him concerned, Tuchel replied: “I’m not worried, but you are right. I sent the message to our fans – support us, we love to (have) them close to the pitch, we love a brilliant atmosphere (and) that they are not behind fences or nets.
“From there everybody needs to show respect. But in general I’m not concerned. Right now I enjoy the atmosphere.
“If this is a new trend we need to act together to make sure that it stops as soon as possible, to protect the fantastic environment and unique atmosphere of England.”
On Rudiger being struck, Tuchel added: “I just heard it some minutes ago, I was actually not aware of all this during the match.
“I think it was during a corner or around the corner, but I have zero information on that.”