adminPiers Morgan says Tottenham star Richarlison should be “banned” for “assaulting” Arsenal keeper Aaron Ramsdale during the ugly aftermath of Sunday’s north London derby.
The Gunners strolled to a 2-0 win to go eight points clear at the top of the Premier League, but the action was marred by a fracas after the final whistle which saw Ramsdale get kicked in the back by a Tottenham-supporting thug.
The altercation began when Ramsdale started celebrating antagonistically towards the home fans, prompting Richarlison to rush over, get in his face and give him a couple of stern shoves.
The Brazilian escaped without punishment, but Morgan said he felt his behaviour warranted a “three-match ban”.
“Richarlison in my opinion absolutely crossed the line,” Morgan said on talkSPORT. “I think he basically assaulted Ramsdale and should be banned for at least three games.
“And I think the fan who then did what he did was carried by what he saw with Richarlison. I think players have responsibility, if they’re going to start getting violent, it’s not entirely surprising some hooligan idiot in the crowd got involved too.
“So I think Richarlison was completely out of order,” he added.
Richarlison later explained himself, insisting that Ramsdale’s post-match celebrations were “disrespectful”.
“What I really didn’t like was their goalkeeper going to celebrate in front of our fans,” the former Everton man told ESPN Brasil. “It’s kind of disrespectful to our fans, he has their fans, he has to go celebrate with their fans, not be cute with our fans.”
During his post-match interview, Ramsdale defended his actions, arguing that he was simply giving Tottenham fans a little stick after they’d spent much of the match doing the same to him.
“The Spurs fans were giving me some stick in the second half so I was giving them some back,” he said.
“The few people that I did do it to, it was probably well greeted, sportsmanship-like. Then a fan tried to jump over and give me a little punch in the back. That’s what happened and it’s a shame because it is just a game of football at the end of the day.” – Daily Star.
Online Reporter