A teenage girl was treated for head injuries amid several instances of crowd trouble during and after Manchester City’s 3-2 Carabao Cup win over Liverpool on Thursday night.
Both clubs have pledged to look into the various disturbances while Greater Manchester Police has launched its own investigation following the incidents at the Etihad Stadium.
GMP confirmed a 15-year-old girl required treatment inside the stadium and it is understood the injury was a result of an object being thrown from the visiting section into the home end.
Liverpool disabled supporters also suffered alleged racial abuse, with a City supporter thrown out of the stadium and arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence.
Another two men were detained by police on suspicion of trying to take a pyrotechnic into the ground while GMP confirmed a 53-year-old male required hospital treatment, having been assaulted after the game outside the stadium.
Superintendent Gareth Parkin, GMP’s match commander, said: “We are aware of a number of objects, including coins and a smoke bomb, that were thrown during the match.
“We will be investigating the incidents and reviewing CCTV from the night.
“Clearly throwing objects in a confined area can be dangerous, and have serious and sometimes devastating consequences – GMP sends it’s thoughts and wishes to the girl who was injured and wish her a speedy recovery.”
Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez and Nathan Ake all scored for City as they edged out defending champions Liverpool to move into the quarter-finals.
But the win has been soured by the instances of fan disturbances and in a joint statement the clubs say they will investigate.
The statement said: “Manchester City FC, Liverpool FC and the chairs from our supporter groups have worked together in recent weeks to remind fans of our expectations and both clubs would like to thank the vast majority of fans for their behaviour at last night’s Carabao Cup match at the Etihad Stadium.
“It is however hugely disappointing that there were a number of incidents during last night’s match that are wholly unacceptable.
“These incidents will be fully investigated, reported to the police and the individuals who are found to be responsible will be subject to the sanction process of their respective club.
“Manchester City FC and Liverpool FC are fully committed to working together to eradicate these issues from our fixtures. They have no place in football.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here