Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale reacts to being ‘punched’ by angry Tottenham fan – ‘It’s a shame’ | Football | Sport
Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale appeared to be punched in the back by an angry Tottenham fan furious with the goalkeeper’s post-match celebrations. Ramsdale revealed after the game that he was given a ‘little punch’ as he retrieved his water bottle and towel from behind the goal.
Ramsdale had received abuse from the Spurs supporters behind his goal. When Arsenal’s 2-0 victory was confirmed by referee Craig Pawson’s full-time whistle, the 24-year-old turned to those fans and kissed the badge on his shirt before pumping his fists several times.
Spurs forward Richarlison took exception to Ramsdale’s antics, pushing the Arsenal goalkeeper before several other players engaged in the scuffle. Ramsdale was then freed and attempted to regain his possessions from behind his goal.
However, a fan seemed to breach the stewards inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and balanced on the advertising boards. The individual seemed to swing his fist in the Gunners’ star’s direction, which was later confirmed by the man himself.
The England shot-stopper said afterwards: “Spurs fans were giving me some in the second half, I gave it some back. Then a fan gave me a little punch on the back. It is a shame, it is just a football game at the end of the day. Thankfully nothing too drastic happened.”
A steward managed to pull Ramsdale away from the fan before he caused serious trouble. He was aided by Arsenal defender Gabriel before making his way over to the Gunners fans who were positioned on the other side of the stadium.
The PFA said: “Violence towards players is completely unacceptable. These types of incidents are happening far too often.
“Players have a right to be safe in their place of work. When a player is attacked we expect the laws and regulations that are in place to protect them to be properly enforced.
“As the player’s union we treat this as a priority issue. We will be continuing to work with the authorities to demand that players and staff are better protected in their place of work.”
Arsenal won 2-0 thanks to an own goal by Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and a long-range strike by captain Martin Odegaard. Boss Mikel Arteta reflected: “It was great to watch, a terrific match. We had some very good moments. We showed a lot of belief, determination and quality to show the way we wanted to play and dominate the game. It is never easy to play this team, especially in this stadium.
“We want to do that [show authority from the start] but what you can do against this team is very different. We imposed the game and were very determined and really intense. The willingness to regain the ball very quickly was really good.”
