Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish was attacked by a pitch invader during Sunday's English Championship league match against Birmingham City, but got his revenge by scoring the game-winning goal.
The reprehensible attack happened in the ninth minute of the rivalry match at St. Andrew's as a hometown Birmingham fan ran onto the field and sucker-punched Grealish from behind.
There were shocking scenes at Birmingham v. Aston Villa today as a pitch invader ran on and punched Aston Villa's Jack Grealish. pic.twitter.com/aIYHcNKJfK— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) March 10, 2019
The fan was surrounded by players from both teams as security grabbed him and led him off the field. The players showed a tremendous amount of restraint in not escalating the situation further. Police have confirmed that he has been arrested.
Grealish not only continued to play in the game, but made the play of the game in the second half by scoring the only goal of the match.
Jack Grealish revenge goal with bonus someone getting hauled away by police pic.twitter.com/Q9j99l9xcv— Los (@RichHomieChapo) March 10, 2019
After the game, Birmingham issued a statement apologizing to Grealish and strongly condemning the attack and pledging to ban the fan from St. Andrew's for life. We shall see if the league applies further punishment on Birmingham City FC as a deterrent to discourage copycat incidents, as it is clear that the security for the players on the pitch was not sufficient this time around.
[FTW]
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
