You never really want to see players come to blows, but to some extent you expect it to happen because emotions can run pretty high out on the pitch. What you absolutely never dream of seeing is a manager putting his hands on the throat of an opposing player, but it appears that's exactly what we got late in the match between Leicester City and Crystal Palace when it appeared that Leicester manager Nigel Pearson put his hands on the throat of Palace midfielder James McArthur.
Nigel Pearson appears to put his hands to James McArthur’s throat
There was an ugly moment late in Leicester City’s home match against Crystal Palace involving what looked like their manager grabbing an opposing player by the throat.
Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
You see it in the video: McArthur gets clattered into Pearson, knocking the manager over on to him. The two exchange words with Pearson's right hand on McArthur's shoulder. McArthur tries to get up, and Pearson's left hand comes up, appearing to grasp McArthur by the throat, high enough that it forces his head back slightly. McArthur struggles and breaks free, but when the two stand up, Pearson keeps a grip on McArthur's sleeve while the player tries to walk away.
Another angle of the incident is below, showing that neither the fourth official or Palace manager Alan Pardew seemed to be paying close attention to the incident until after McArthur flailed to get out of Pearson's grip.
h/t to Max Bentley on Twitter
The fourth official eventually came over to break the two up, but the incident was already well past ugly by then. Pearson tried to laugh it off after the match, telling the press that “[McArthur] said something to me. I don’t have to reveal anything do I. I think I’m more than capable of looking after myself. I’ve got a lot of respect for the lad.”
For his part, McArthur said after the match that the incident had been “blown out of proportion,” but refused to give his side of what actually happened. Pearson was suspended and fined earlier this season for telling a Leicester fan to “f*** off and die,” and has repeatedly been critical of fans and media during his career.
See More:
