A man who ran onto the Old Trafford pitch after Man United star Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a late winner has been banned from football matches for three years.
Shahin Ahmed, 27, travelled to Greater Manchester from London to watch the Reds take on Villarreal in September.
In the 95th minute, Ronaldo put United 2-1 up.
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Ahmed, alongside two others, charged onto the pitch towards the footballer, before being rugby tackled by four security guards, Manchester Magistrates' Court heard.
He was arrested and searched and found with Xanax and diazepam, which were not prescribed to him.
Pleading guilty to possession of drugs; and going onto a playing area at a football match, Ahmed was fined £80 and banned from matches for three years.
Neil White, prosecuting, said: "Your worships have to consider a football banning order.
"He had gone onto a pitch during the game, in front of 70,000 people with a risk of antagonising the home supporters and away supporters.
"He didn’t know how they could have reacted and whether violence was likely to occur.
"He went in the excitement of the moment, but there was a risk of violence.”
The prosecutor said there has been an increase in violence at matches following the return of fans to stadiums.
Ahmed has previous convictions for driving matters and drug offences dating back to 2017.
Mitigating, Nnamdi Inegbu said his client ‘deeply regrets’ his actions and said the incident caused him and his family a ‘great deal of embarrassment’.
“It was his birthday at the time, and there is no suggestion he was under the influence of alcohol,” he said.
“He was celebrating at the time and it just overwhelmed him and he made his way onto the pitch.
“He didn’t get very far - as soon as he got onto the pitch he was rugby tackled by four guards.”
Mr Inegbu added that Ahmed usually comes to Manchester to watch United play eight times a year from his hometown of Tower Hamlets, in London.
Sentencing, JP Mr Cottingham said: “We have taken into account everything that has been said about you - but this is still quite serious, running onto a pitch.
“The consequences could have been a problem.”
Ahmed, of Poplar High Street, was handed an £80 fine and ordered to pay £109 court costs, along with a football banning order which covers all future and upcoming games.
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