Celtic’s Engels has near miss after being struck by coin above eye, says Rodgers
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Celtic’s manager, Brendan Rodgers, believes Arne Engels was close to sustaining a serious eye injury after a coin thrown from the Ibrox stands towards the end of Rangers’ 3-0 Old Firm victory struck the Belgian midfielder on the head. The incident was the latest in a serious of unsavoury incidents in Scottish football this season.
Engels fell to the turf as he prepared to take an 87th-minute corner. It was soon clear a missile had struck him above his left eye. The referee, Don Robertson, handed a coin to the fourth official after Engels had returned to his feet and declared himself able to play on. The coin was then given to a police officer, who placed it in an evidence bag. Rodgers confirmed the coin had hit Engels, Celtic’s record signing.
Rodgers, asked whether Engels was not badly hurt, said: “Yes, thankfully. An inch lower, it would have been right in the eye. But, yes, I think he’s OK. It’s not obviously great for the game, but, yes, he’s OK.” A Rangers spokesperson said: “Rangers FC condemns this incident in the strongest possible terms. The club can confirm it will assist Police Scotland with their investigation.” The Scottish Professional Football League is notoriously unwilling to punish clubs for the behaviour of supporters inside stadiums. The governing body is, however, under increasing pressure after a rise in pyrotechnic use and generally poor behaviour at top-level fixtures. Sectarian chanting was also in clear evidence at various spells of Rangers’ comprehensive win. No Celtic supporters were in attendance.
Alistair Johnston, Celtic’s Canadian full-back, echoed the sentiments of his manager regarding the Engels scenario. “I saw that he got hit just above the eye,” Johnston said. “It is an unfortunate situation; we are just lucky it didn’t hit him right in the eye.
“I have played in Central America and other places where they are throwing more than coins at you so generally you feel pretty safe [in Scotland]. It is unfortunate – ideally you do not want anything thrown on the pitch. The words and the chants, you can get through that but you hope everyone respects the players on the pitch no matter what team they play for.
“In an ideal world it is not happening. If that hits him in the eye, it is a pretty serious matter. I would just caution everyone to be smart. It’s humans out there – that is someone’s son. You would refrain from chucking things at guys heads, ideally.”