Chelsea winger Pedro Neto has apologized for pushing a ball boy during the closing stages of Wednesday’s 5-2 Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
The 26-year-old sparked a mass altercation in stoppage time after shoving the youngster onto a chair in a frustrated attempt to retrieve the ball.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Neto expressed deep regret:
“I want to apologize to the ball boy. I gave him my shirt and said sorry about 35 times. It was the heat of the moment and I’m not like this.”
The incident capped a disciplined-starved collapse for Chelsea. Despite keeping the tie level for 75 minutes, a costly error from goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen and a late double from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia left the Blues facing a massive deficit.
Head coach Liam Rosenior echoed the apology but criticized his team’s lack of composure, stating, “The last 20 minutes were crazy… we weren’t calm, and we were punished.”
Chelsea now hosts Newcastle on Saturday before attempting a comeback against PSG at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday.
