In Europa League first, veteran defender Patrice
Evra was red-carded on Thursday for a karate kick at one of his own fans. This
was before the Europa League match between his club, Marseille and
Vitoria Guimaraes had even started in Portugal.
Evra , 36, a former Manchester United star was engaged
in a heated exchange with a group of fans from an area reserved for around 500
Marseille supporters before aiming a head-high left-footed kick at one of them.
Evra had been named as a substitute for the match and his pre-match
dismissal meant that Marseille had to start the match with just six
replacements.
“Pat has experience, and he must not react, it’s obvious,”
said Marseille coach Rudi Garcia whose side lost 1-0 and had Boubacar Kamara
sent off three minutes from time. “Patrice
is a more than just an experienced player. You can’t respond to insults as bad
as they are and as incredible as they might be because they come from one of
our supporters.
“He must learn to keep his cool.” The incident immediately
brought back memories of another act of kung-fu kick madness by a French
footballer. In January 1995, Eric Cantona, playing for Manchester United,
launched a flying kick at a Crystal Palace supporter at Selhurst Park who had
jeered him after he had been sent off.
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