Now that the dust has settled a bit, prepare for a rather punchy (pun entirely intended) defence of one of the greatest players to ever grace the Premier League.
Wigan’s heroic win over Man City on Monday night will unfortunately be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
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But those castigating Sergio Aguero swiftly need to get in the sea.
Aguero became embroiled in an altercation with an individual after thousands of Wigan supporters swarmed onto the DW Stadium pitch to celebrate their side’s famous victory.
Pitch invasions are a bit like wireless headphones; exciting initially but in reality just an awful lot of hassle.
The field of play is ultimately a fan free zone – they shouldn’t be anywhere near the players in the first place.
So when Aguero was confronted by a man just minutes after a demoralising defeat who was not only likely heavily intoxicated but also a threat to his personal safety, what more can you expect?
Let’s break down the incident.
BBC cameras painted Aguero in a bad light immediately with the footage they released to the millions watching on TV:
Aguero clashed with the supporter before being restrained by a member of City’s coaching staff who suppressed the incident from escalating.
But what the BBC cameras didn’t pick up was the full picture.
As shown below, Aguero’s ‘punch’ is more a push and an act of self defence, protecting himself from a professional wind up merchant whose sole aim was to provoke a reaction.
Not only did the fan in question make a beeline to antagonise Aguero, The Sun are also reporting he spat at him.
All things considered, City’s record goalscorer actually handled himself pretty well as the vast majority of us would probably have clocked the man into next year.
Let’s call it faux outrage, but the response from people on social media has typically come from Man United fans, some actually begging the FA to take legal action in the hope of docking Premier League points.
Talk about clutching at straws.
The reaction of players themselves – who may have encountered similar scenarios – is far more telling.
They don’t just sympathise with Aguero, they appreciate the perils of being a professional footballer in such a testing atmosphere.
Ultimately the only person who should have been in the faces of the City players last night was their manager after probably their worst performance of the season.
Pep Guardiola didn’t cover himself in glory at all, but Aguero did the square root of nothing wrong.
So before vilifying the man from the comfort of your keyboard, just think… what would YOU do in that scenario?
You can follow Adam on Twitter – @adamjonessj
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