
During Thursday’s Europa League match between Sevilla and PSV Eindhoven, the game turned violent when a pitch invader ran onto the field and punched Sevilla’s goalkeeper, Marko Dmitrović.
The incident occurred towards the end of the match, which saw PSV being eliminated from the tournament 3-2 on aggregate.
Video footage shows the spectator walking up to Dmitrović and throwing a punch at his head. The 6-foot-4-inch Serbian goalkeeper quickly pinned down the pitch invader before security personnel arrived and escorted the assailant off the field.
Despite the attack, Dmitrović remained in the game after the incident.
“He pushed me from behind and then came and got in my face and tried to hit me,” said Dmitrović. “He grazed the side of my nose a little and then honestly, I wanted to hit him back but it’s never pretty.
If he really wants to fight let’s go to an event or a sport like boxing or anything. Here, in this sport, these things aren’t deserved but alas.
“There’s always fans who are drunk and crazy and an idiot who assaults. This shouldn’t happen and I hope they punish him and anyone else who assaults anyone on the pitch in the future.”
Sevilla had won the first leg of the playoff 3-0, which put the Dutch side in a challenging position heading into Thursday night’s match. Luuk de Jong netted a goal in the 77th minute for PSV Eindhoven during the second leg.
Following the incident with Dmitrović, substitute Fabio Silva doubled PSV’s lead five minutes into stoppage time. However, it was too late to change the outcome of the game, and Sevilla advanced to the Round of 16 despite the second-leg loss.
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