Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof struck by lighter thrown by Manchester City fan in FA Cup final
The Swede was celebrating Bruno Fernandes' equalising goal, but unsavoury scenes quickly followed
Victor Lindelof was struck by a lighter thrown by a Manchester City fan during celebrations for Manchester United's equalising goal in the FA Cup final.
After Bruno Fernandes' equalising penalty, scored at the end of Wembley housing Manchester City fans, United players headed to the corner flag to congratulate their captain for his coolly taken penalty.
However, scenes quickly turned sour as Lindelof was struck by what seems like a lighter thrown from the crowd. Fortunately, the Swede managed to get back to his feet and continue with the game, but was spotted on his haunches directly after the incident.
Referee Paul Tierney investigated the incident after Fernandes and Casemiro remonstrated with both the official and the fans. Both players were seen with their arms wide shrugging their shoulders at the City fans.
Fernandes' penalty came after VAR adjudged Jack Grealish to handle the ball inside City's 18-yard box after Aaron Wan-Bissaka attempted to head the ball across goal.
Tierney nor his assistant referee determined it an offence in normal time, but a VAR checked believed Grealish had his arm in an unnatural position, thus leading to a spot kick. Manchester United players appealed with the referee prior to his check on the monitor in an attempt to draw his attention to the incident.
With that, Fernandes stepped up and slotted it past Stefan Ortega in Manchester City's goal, levelling the scores after Ilkay Gundogan put City 1-0 up. The German midfielder's strike is the quickest in FA Cup final history, scored after 14 seconds in what was an incredible volley from outside the area.
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The game headed into half time level at 1-1.
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.