Pedro Neto apologises for pushing ball boy in PSG clash + Video

Chelsea winger Pedro Neto has apologised after pushing a ball boy during the club’s 5–2 UEFA Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Paris on Wednesday.

The incident occurred late in stoppage time when the Portugal international attempted to restart play quickly with Chelsea trailing in the match.

With the ball out of play near the touchline, Neto tried to retrieve it from the ball boy but ended up shoving the youngster in the chest, causing him to stumble into a nearby advertising board.

The moment drew anger from PSG players and criticism from supporters online, with some describing the act as “disgusting”.

Despite the confrontation, the 26-year-old was not shown a yellow card during the match, although he could still face retrospective action from UEFA.

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Neto later met the ball boy after the game and apologised for the incident.

Speaking on TNT Sports, the Chelsea winger admitted his action was wrong and said he gave the youngster his match shirt as a gesture of regret.

Neto said: “I want to apologise. 

“I already spoke with him. It was the heat of the moment. We were losing, and I wanted to pick up the ball.

“I gave him a little push, and that cannot happen.”

He added: “I saw that I hurt him; I’m not like this… it was in the heat of the moment; I gave him my shirt. I have to apologise to him. I’m really, really sorry about that.”

Neto explained that fellow Portugal international Vitinha helped translate the apology because the ball boy spoke French.

He said: “Straight away I spoke to him and he laughed; he was happy I gave him the shirt and I said sorry like 35 times.”

He added: “I didn’t understand his French but he was laughing, so I think he knew it was a heat-of-the-moment thing, and Vitinha told him I’m not like that.”

The confrontation added to a difficult night for Chelsea, who suffered a heavy defeat against the French champions in the Champions League clash in Paris.

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