Source: Daily_Mail
Adebayor 'set out to hurt me', rages Arsenal star Van Persie
Emmanuel Adebayor faces a lengthy FA ban after his controversial role in a confrontational and bloody 4-2 win for Manchester City over his old club Arsenal, which left injured former teammate Robin Van Persie accusing the striker of a 'mindless and malicious' stamp on his head.
Adebayor, who made an acrimonious departure from north London over the summer to become a £25million addition to big-spending City, left stud marks on Van Persie's face after a 72nd-minute challenge. The Arsenal striker was furious, claiming that Adebayor had deliberately set out to hurt him.
Van Persie said: 'I'm sad and disappointed. I knew he was aiming for a collision.'
Then, after scoring the third City goal, Adebayor ran the length of the pitch to taunt visiting fans in what will be regarded as disgraceful provocation.
Just yards from the Arsenal section, he turned and slid towards the City contingent. But his actions prompted an attempted pitch invasion and a hail of missiles, including a plastic stool Scores of police were required to restore order as fans tried to invade the pitch.
Adebayor will almost certainly face a charge of improper conduct from the FA, following the precedent set last month when Nottingham Forest's Nathan Tyson was cited after prompting a flareup, celebrating at the final whistle by waving a corner flag in front of Derby County fans.
However, City's striker could also be handed a ban for the 72nd-minute clash with Van Persie after the Dutchman dived in to tackle him. Despite the uncontrolled nature of Van Persie's challenge, the Arsenal man won the ball but Adebayor reacted by extending his leg and appearing to stamp on the Dutchman's head.
Referee Mark Clattenburg missed it but last night Van Persie claimed that Adebayor might have permanently damaged his eyesight and accused his former team-mate of deliberately targeting him.
Van Persie added: 'It was a mindless and malicious stamp on me. He changed the angle of his body to allow contact. He moved backwards when his natural momentum would have taken him forward. I find that deeply disrespectful. He has shown a real lack of class today, to me and the fans.
'I, too, have made hard and sometimes mistimed challenges, but never with the intention of hurting an opponent. He set out to hurt me.
'I do feel lucky I haven't suffered a greater injury. The contact was only centimetres from my eye. I haven't received an apology. There were no words exchanged afterwards. He had his own agenda today and that is bad for football.
'This has nothing to do with today's result. We do not hide from that disappointment. But I need to speak out about his behaviour.'
Adebayor apologised after the game but that is unlikely to save him from a double ban, particularly given the FA's concerns about the return of hooliganism at West Ham's League Cup clash with Millwall last month.
The City striker said: 'The emotion overtook me. The frustration came out. I'm very sorry but I'm a human being. It was a big mistake. A lot had been said and written before the match .'
About the incident with Van Persie, he insisted: 'I didn't have time to pull back my foot. I feel sorry for him and I told him at the end that I was sorry.'
In the run-up to the game, the Togo forward claimed he had been 'scarred for life' by the animosity shown to him last season by Arsenal fans after he had tried to engineer a move to AC Milan or Barcelona.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said: 'I don't want to assess Adebayor's performance - he's not my player. His celebration was not of the highest elegance but it's out of my control.'
City manager Mark Hughes added his own apology and said: 'He understands that was the wrong thing to do and has already apologised. It was an emotional guy and it was an emotional moment.
'I think he just wanted to enjoy the moment with the City fans and, obviously, he knew there were Arsenal fans in the vicinity, so it was the wrong thing to do.
'We should maybe cut him some slack given what he's been through in the past 18 months.'
Asked whether he feared Adebayor would face a ban, Hughes added: 'I've no idea. We'll have to wait and see.'
Both Hughes and Wenger said they had not seen the incident in which Adebayor stamped on Van Persie's head but TV pictures showed it clearly.
