Pedro Neto escapes red card after PUSHING PSG ball boy to the floor at the end of Chelsea’s 5-2 defeat in Paris
Pedro Neto awkwardly clashed with a ball boy in the final stages of Chelsea’s Champions League defeat to PSG.
With the Blues losing 4-2 in extra time, the ball went out of play and Neto tried to get a new ball from a ball boy on the edge of the Parc des Princes field.
However, the ball boy hesitated and refused to immediately give the ball to Neto before moving to throw it.
Neto resisted this out of desperation to get the ball back and instead pushed the ball boy, who was writhing on the ground in pain.
The winger’s actions created a scuffle on the touchline and players from both teams argued with each other.
Neto’s movements were later reviewed by VAR but it was decided not to intervene.
In the final stages of Chelsea’s 5-2 defeat to PSG, Pedro Neto clashed with a ball boy.
The ball boy refused to give the ball back to Neto so the Chelsea star pushed him to get it back
After the scuffle, the ball boy writhing on the ground in pain.
Speaking on TNT Sports’ coverage of the match, Glenn Hoddle jumped to Neto’s defense and said: ‘Yes, he pushed him but he pushed because the ball boy wasn’t going to give him the ball and he was going to throw it.
‘It is the last minute of the game to defend the player. He wants to continue playing and the young man tries to throw the ball away from him. He’s just poking her.’
Neto apologized to the ball boy after the incident, but things were about to get worse for him when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia made it 5-2 to PSG in stoppage time.
Meanwhile, after VAR decided not to intervene in Paris, Hoddle added: ‘Correct. If the ball boy didn’t do anything then that’s another story.’
Neto was seen giving his shirt to the ball boy throughout the match, and the two began to make up after this strange incident.
He later spoke to TNT and expressed his regret for what happened.
‘I want to say that I went to apologize to the ball boy and talked to him about the incident that happened on the field,’ he said.
‘The emotions of the match were, we were losing and I wanted to get the ball. He was carrying the ball with him, and in the heat of the moment, I pushed him a little and saw that it hurt him.
‘That’s not who I am, so I immediately went over there to apologize and I also gave him my shirt because this can’t happen, so I’m really sorry. I just wanted to say once again that I’m really sorry for him.’
Neto’s actions created a scuffle on the touchline and players from both teams clashed.
The Portuguese winger apologized to the ball boy and later spoke about the incident on television.
After the match whistle, the two hugged and the player gave him his jersey from the match.
When pressed further, Neto added: ‘I have to apologize to him. In the heat of the moment, football is like that, you get caught up in a lot of emotions.
‘I wanted to get the ball first, I pushed him and immediately went to apologize and eventually we talked.
He even laughed that I gave him the shirt and I apologized 35 times, so I’m really sorry about the situation.
‘He knew what was going on, so he was happy with the situation. In the heat of the moment Vitinha also told him that I wasn’t like that and that the only thing that mattered was that I was worried about him. So I’m really sorry about the situation.’
This added to a frustrating night for Liam Rosenior’s side, who were outmatched for most of the night.
Enzo Fernandez made it 2-2 midway through the second half, but three late goals from the home side ensured they went into next week’s second leg 5-2 ahead on aggregate.
The situation with Neto brought back memories of January 2013, when Chelsea icon Eden Hazard had an infamous encounter with Charlie Morgan.
Morgan was a ball boy during Chelsea’s League Cup semi-final match against Swansea Swansea and tried to waste time.
With Wales leading 2-0 on aggregate, Morgan lay on the ball and infuriated Hazard, who kicked him and as a result the Belgian was sent off and handed a three-game ban.
Hazard later apologizedHe said: ‘The kid put his whole body on the ball and I was just trying to hit it.
‘I think I hit the ball, not the kid. I am sorry.’
