The Football Association (FA) has condemned pitch-invading fans after a number of high-profile incidents of violence near the end of the English league season.
Earlier on Friday, Merseyside Police announced they had launched an investigation into an altercation between Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira and a fan, after Everton supporters flooded onto the Goodison Park pitch to celebrate the Toffees securing Premier League safety with a 3-2 comeback victory.
Widely circulated footage appeared to show Vieira kicking out at the fan after being goaded, while this week also saw a Nottingham Forest supporter jailed and given a stadium ban after attacking Sheffield United player Billy Sharp following a Championship play-off semi-final at the City Ground.
Elsewhere, Swindon Town players were allegedly physically and verbally abused during a pitch invasion at Port Vale, while a Northampton Town fan appeared to shove a Mansfield Town player during League Two's other play-off semi-final tie.
English football's governing body has now moved to condemn the scenes and confirmed it is investigating each of the pitch invasions to have taken place over recent days.
"We are very concerned about the rise in anti-social behaviour from fans as we reach the end of the season," a statement from the FA began.
"Football stadiums should always be a safe and enjoyable space for everyone, and these incidents are completely unacceptable and have no place in our game.
"It is illegal to enter the pitch area in any stadium and these actions are putting players, fans and people who run the game at great risk. This simply cannot continue, and we can confirm that we are investigating all of the incidences.
"Clubs play a vital role in addressing this issue and they need to prevent pitch invasions from occurring, as well as taking their own action against those that break the rules and the law.
"The FA will be seeking to do all that it can to work with clubs as well as addressing the issues from a disciplinary perspective. We are also reviewing our regulations to help stamp this behaviour out and to ensure the safety of everyone inside a stadium."
Dominic Calvert-Lewin determined to stay fit and build on Brentford strike
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is determined to stay fit after revealing his frustration at his latest injury setback.
The England striker returned from a fractured cheekbone to score Everton’s third goal in their 3-1 win at Brentford.
“It’s difficult when you keep getting sidelined and you’re doing everything to stay on the pitch, but I think everyone knows I’m doing everything I possibly can,” Calvert-Lewin told the club website.
“I’m in a good place now, feeling physically fit, strong, fast. I’m buzzing to get the goal and long may it continue.
“We knew we needed a result and most importantly a win but we have to continue the work we’ve been doing, keep the momentum and take that into next week.”
James Tarkowski had headed the Toffees back into the lead against his old club after Mathias Jensen cancelled out Abdoulaye Doucoure’s opener.
Calvert-Lewin then secured Everton’s first win of the season and condemned the Bees to a first home defeat.
“I think that Everton deserved to win,” said Bees boss Thomas Frank. “The first five games we played this season, we performed very well – this was a bad performance. We need to learn from that, move forward and bounce back.
“What this group of fantastic players have done very well over all the years I’ve been in charge here is that, after a bad performance, they’ve bounced back.
“Everything that Everton came with didn’t surprise us. We expected everything, we just handled it poorly. We just didn’t deal very well with it.
“There are two things, besides the bad performance, that we need to look into: one is defensive set-pieces, obviously we conceded two goals and we weren’t on top of them.
“Secondly, is our quality and decision-making on the ball, especially in the first half. We were throwing the ball away way, way too easy with touches, passes and decisions.”
Phil Foden admits Rodri will be a ‘big miss’ during his three-match suspension
Phil Foden admits Manchester City have a big hole to fill after influential midfielder Rodri picked up a three-game ban in Saturday’s win over Nottingham Forest.
The Spain international was sent off early in the second half of City’s 2-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium for raising his hands towards the neck of Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.
The treble winners now face being without Rodri for their midweek Carabao Cup trip to Newcastle, next Saturday’s game at Wolves and – most crucially – the encounter at Arsenal on October 8.
Foden said: “He is one of our most important players and he seems to play all the minutes. He is going to be a big miss, but we have players to step up now and we are going to need them.”
Rodri’s dismissal dramatically changed the mood of a game City had been cruising to victory in following goals from Foden and Erling Haaland in the first 14 minutes.
A tame affair became fractious and City lost some of their composure before switching to a defensive mindset.
Attacking players Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez were sacrificed for Kalvin Phillips and Nathan Ake as manager Pep Guardiola took a pragmatic approach to secure three points.
“I thought we showed a different side to the team,” Foden said.
“It was not ideal with Rodri getting a red card so early in the second half, but I thought we showed heart and desire – a different side to the team that we sometimes need to show.
“I am really happy with the performance. We dug deep.”
Despite making their latest victory unnecessarily complicated, the champions’ 100 per cent start to the season remains intact.
In an ominous warning for the rest of the competition, Foden believes there is plenty more to come.
The 23-year-old said: “I would say it is a perfect start, but there are still a couple of gears for us to go. We are happy with the start, but we still know we can get better.”
Forest manager Steve Cooper was pleased with his side’s response in the second half and felt they should have got more from playing against 10-man City.
He said: “When you play a game and you get presented an opportunity, you really want to recognise that you have to take that.
“I’m not angry with the players. I’m not disappointed in any way, shape or form, and I’ve told them that.
“But I’ve just challenged them, like, ‘Come on boys, really back yourselves, because I do’.
“Hopefully we’ll reflect on the game and be motivated that we can play in these really tough games and do some good things.”
I’ll relish this’ says Dominic Calvert-Lewin after Everton break their duck
Dominic Calvert-Lewin took a swipe at the Everton boo boys after marking his return from injury with a goal in the 3-1 win at Brentford.
The England striker was jeered by some fans after he went off with a fractured cheekbone during the 4-0 defeat at Aston Villa at the start of the season.
But he showed the Toffees what they have been missing by climbing off the bench to wrap up their first win of the season.
“Football is a funny old game,” Calvert-Lewin told Sky Sports.
“When I came off against Aston Villa my own fans booed me off. Today they cheered me. I’ll relish this and take the rest with a pinch of salt.”
James Tarkowski had headed the Toffees back into the lead against his old club after Mathias Jensen cancelled out Abdoulaye Doucoure’s opener before half-time.
Then Calvert-Lewin grabbed only his second goal since last October when he collected James Garner’s through-ball and slotted home.
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Boss Sean Dyche insisted a vastly improved display had been on the cards for a while despite picking up just one point from their first five matches.
He said: “I don’t think it came from anywhere. The signs have been there but you have to change the storyline, you have to take your chances.
“To come in at 1-1 was a bit of a head-scratcher, so to come out in the second half and be so calm again was very pleasing.
“I’m very pleased with the whole performance. My job is to look at the performances, win or lose. We’ve deserved more but you’ve got to force it and today we did.
“We had a good chat in the week with the players and said it’s us who have to change the story.
“It’s tough playing well and not getting results. That’s where you should grow and have on-pitch maturity and play under pressure and that’s what we did today.”
The Bees, by contrast, were distinctly off-colour and are still without a win at home this season.
Boss Thomas Frank said: “It was a very bad day. Everton deserved to win, we performed badly.
“We performed very well in our first first five games, but today was a bad one.
“It was very unlike this group of fantastic players, but we are good at bouncing back from a bad performance and I expect us to bounce back.”
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