Mauricio Pochettino expressed his relief that Dele Alli was not hurt after being hit on the head by a water bottle hurled from the stands by an Arsenal fan, as English football endured another supporter flashpoint.
The controversy occurred in the 73rd minute of Tottenham’s 2-0 Carabao Cup quarter-final win and it followed the racial abuse of Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling at Chelsea and the banana skin thrown at Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang by a Spurs fan during this month’s Premier League derby.
Alli had been walking away from the touchline when the fan threw the bottle. He responded by flashing up the scoreline with his fingers and he would later upload a picture to social media. Arsenal said they would analyse TV footage before taking action.
Pochettino said: “I saw it and it was lucky that it wasn’t a big issue. We play a derby and we hate each other in a good way but it is in a bad way when you go to damage some people or an opponent. It is only one stupid person who made a mistake. I respect the Arsenal fans. For one [fan], you cannot talk about everyone.
“I hope that Arsenal take responsibility and, through the cameras, they can identify [who it was] because it wasn’t a problem but it could have been a big problem, some big issue and how are we going to fix it?”
Alli, who set up Son Heung-min opening goal before scoring the second himself, said: “It made my goal a little bit sweeter, and the win.”
Pochettino made the point once again that Alli has the knack for delivering in the biggest games. “Dele loves to compete. In easy situations he gets bored easily. In training he gets bored easily if you don’t put in opposition. It’s because he’s an animal, a competitive animal. When he’s in a very competitive space he always gives his best. That is a quality he has. You cannot buy that in the supermarket.”
Unai Emery said that he had omitted Mesut Özil from his Arsenal squad for “tactical” reasons and, asked twice whether the midfielder has a future at the club, offered no assurances, only soundbites. “I am thinking of the match today and not of another situation,” he said. “Tomorrow I train with every player for a difficult match on Saturday [against Burnley]. It was a tactical decision [regarding Özil]. I thought the players with us today were the best for this match. Yes, Özil was in the stadium.”
