Manager Pedro Neto has apologized after pushing a PSG ball boy to the floor as Chelsea threatened to score late in their away game against PSG on Wednesday night. The Blues played well for most of the game at the Parc des Princes, but they fell victim to the Champions League winners, scoring five goals in style to take a 5-2 lead heading into next week’s second leg. However, there was some drama before full time when the score was 4-2. Neto pushed the ball boy onto the turf as he tried to retrieve the ball to immediately restart play with a throw-in.
The ball boy fell to the ground, hitting a billboard and clutching his chest. The incident sparked a huge brawl with players from both groups shoving each other as tensions rose. Despite a VAR check to investigate whether the Portuguese winger should have been given a red card, Neto escaped without one. Neto then appeared on TNT Sports after full-time and said: “I want to say what happened on the pitch. I want to apologize to the ball boy. I have already spoken to him. In the emotion of the game, we were losing and we wanted to pick up the ball.”
“He was running the ball and I pushed him a little bit and I knew I hurt him. I’m sorry. I’m not like that. I was in the heat of the moment. I went to apologize and gave him my shirt as well. That can’t have happened. I’m really, really sorry for that and I’m sorry to him.”
Neto added: “I feel I have to apologize to him. In the heat of the moment, you know what football is like and there are so many emotions. I wanted to get the ball early. I want to say sorry to him. He came to talk to me and he was happy that I gave him the shirt and he laughed.”
“I said sorry like 35 times! I’m so sorry about that and this situation. I think he knew what happened, so he was happy that I finally said sorry. I didn’t understand French, but he laughed and said something too. He knew it was the heat of the moment.”
“Vicinha also told him that I’m not that kind of person and that things happen. All that mattered was that I was worried about him. I’m really sorry about the situation.”
Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior said: “I haven’t seen what actually happened. I heard there was an altercation with the ball boy and you never want to see that. I just heard that Pedro has apologized. We have to see that and we’ll talk about it in the next few days.”
“Even in that moment, that’s what happened to us as a group, so we have to switch up in the next moment and make sure we get through the game. We didn’t do that and we got punished by a very good team.”
Commenting on the result, Neto continued: “To be honest, I think we were in control in the second half at 2-2. Then, with the way we played, we gave them a 3-2. After that, we scored an unbelievable goal outside the box, and at the end we lost the ball as we were trying to pass (and it was 5-2). We will continue to play positive and aim to get the win at home.”
Despite the Londoners facing a three-goal deficit at Stamford Bridge, Rosenior remained defiant. The Blues manager declared: “Unfortunately, we never want to lose the game, but the fifth goal at that moment after a close call…We didn’t keep our composure in that moment. We couldn’t keep our composure. They beat our press and scored the fifth goal.”
“It’s very difficult to come back but it’s not impossible. We’ve seen it happen before. We won’t give up. We know we have to come up with a really strong plan to get back on par. That’s why it’s so disappointing. A lot of the good things about the first 74 minutes will be forgotten because of the madness of the 15-20 minutes.”
Chelsea equalized twice in the away match against PSG, but the hosts took a commanding lead with three goals in the closing stages. Bradley Barcola’s opening goal was canceled out by Maro Gusto, but a fine strike from Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele gave the French giants the lead back.
Enzo Fernandes made it 2-2 just before the hour mark, but Vicinha once again put the home side ahead. Joao Pedro’s third equalizer was chalked off for offside, but two late goals from Hviča Kvaratschelia, who came off the bench, put last season’s European Cup winners in a strong position heading into London next Tuesday.
