Police hunt Gunners fan who threw bottle at Alli
POLICE are looking for the culprit who hit Dele Alli on the head with a plastic bottle in Tottenham’s Carabao Cup win as Arsenal expressed embarrassment over the incident yesterday.
Video footage on social media showed the man who threw the missile and the club have used CCTV to get an image of him. He fled the stadium after striking the Spurs midfielder in the 72nd minute of the match.
Arsenal released a statement apologising to Alli, who scored the second goal in a 2-0 Spurs win. ‘We have all been embarrassed by the individual who threw a bottle at Dele Alli,’ the club said. ‘Behaviour of this type has no place at Emirates Stadium and, after analysing CCTV footage which showed him leaving the stadium after throwing the bottle, we have identified an image of the suspect.
‘We are liaising with the Metropolitan Police and investigations continue in order to apprehend the culprit. We send our apologies to Dele Alli and everyone at Tottenham Hotspur. We do not tolerate any anti-social, discriminatory or violent behaviour at Arsenal.
‘Anyone identified will receive a lengthy club ban and their details will be passed to the police to commence legal proceedings.’
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino praised Alli’s reaction to the incident. He said: ‘In another country, the player would be down on the pitch, creating a big problem. Dele was so honest and pro. His behaviour was top.
‘The Arsenal people, the club, should be grateful to him. In a different situation, the player can go down and create a massive problem. It’s a situation that I hate, this type of action.
‘I know Arsenal will take responsibility and fix that problem but we need to praise Dele. His behaviour was fantastic.’
Alli also made light of the incident on Instagram as he wrote alongside a picture of himself being hit by the bottle: ‘It was at this moment he knew... he f ***** up.’
Meanwhile, Arsenal and Tottenham have been fined £45,000 and £50,000 respectively for failing to control their players following Eric Dier’s goal in the Premier League game on December 2.