Dele Alli bottle: Arsenal say they have identified a suspect who ‘embarrassed’ the club against Tottenham
Arsenal released a statement confirming they have identified a suspect
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal say they have identified a suspect who “embarrassed” the club by throwing a bottle at Tottenham player Dele Alli during the Carabao Cup quarter-final between the north London rivals at the Emirates.
The incident occurred halfway through the second-half of Wednesday night’s clash, when Alli went to retrieve the ball from the crowd for a throw-in.
The bottle struck Alli on the head, but the 22-year-old was not hurt and reacted by making a 2-0 gesture to the home fans, which was how the game ended, sending Spurs through to a semi-final against Chelsea.
In a statement, Arsenal said: “We have all been embarrassed by the individual who threw a bottle at Dele Alli during Wednesday night's match against Tottenham Hotspur.
“Behaviour of this type has no place at Emirates Stadium and after analysing CCTV footage, which showed him leaving the stadium after throwing the bottle, we have identified an image of the suspect. We are liaising with the Metropolitan Police and investigations continue in order to apprehend the culprit.
“We are not responsible for the actions of one individual, but send our apologies to Dele Alli and everyone at Tottenham Hotspur for this incident.
“We do not tolerate any anti-social, discriminatory or violent behaviour at Arsenal Football Club. Anyone identified will receive a lengthy club ban and their details will be passed to the police to commence legal proceedings.”
Earlier, the Metropolitan Police confirmed they were working with the club to identify the suspect.
“The Met is working with Arsenal Football Club to identify the person responsible for an incident where a bottle was thrown onto the pitch during the Arsenal vs Tottenham match on Wednesday, 19 December,” they said in a statement.
“There has been no arrest in relation to this specific incident.
“Seven people were arrested as part of the policing operation for this match for a variety of offences including possession of drugs, public order and assault on police.”
A Spurs fan was arrested for throwing a banana skin at Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang when the two teams met in the Premier League at the start of the month.
He was handed a four-year football banning order on Wednesday after pleading guilty to throwing a missile.
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