The Crystal Palace Coach Patrick Vieira was involved in a confrontation with a fan on the field after his team’s 3-2 defeat at Everton. In a video widely circulated on social media, Vieira appears to be aiming for the man who is harassing him.
Vieira did not comment on the incident, which emerged after his post-match press conference. The video clip shows Vieira, unaccompanied by staff or security, making his way across the field toward the locker room currently located in the Park End parking lot. He is then confronted by a fan who appears to be pointing at him.
Patrick Vieira was photographed having a fight with an Everton fan on the field at Goodison Park during tonight’s pitch invasion. pic.twitter.com/MOliWvsSHJ
– Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 19, 2022
In the clip, Vieira appears to respond by first grabbing the man and then swinging him with a kick, before other supporters come to his aid and shove him away. The incident is likely to attract the attention of the FA, which may also look at forays into the field after Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s 85th-minute and full-time win.
The Everton Head coach Frank Lampard provided support for his counterpart after the match. “I feel like Patrick. I didn’t get it in the end. I was going to say, ‘Come with us,’ although he probably didn’t want to. Of course, he ran 80 yards across the field and that’s not easy.”
About the post-match invasion himself, Lampard said: “It was [the] Pure happiness from the fans who entered the stadium after avoiding relegation. If done the right way, let them stay on the field, let them take their time. As long as they act, no problem.”
Earlier on Thursday, he was a Nottingham Forest fan Imprisonment for 24 months for assaulting Sheffield United captain Billy Sharp after Tuesday’s semi-final match. Elsewhere, Swindon’s coach, Ben Garner, claimed that his players were too ‘Physical and verbal abuse’ By fans who ran onto the field after Port Vale won their League Two play-off match on penalties.
