Neymar claims Marseille fans 'threw baguettes' at him after being shown his first red card since joining PSG
The £200m striker was sent-off late in the game with PSG trailing, but Edinson Cavani salvaged a point for Unai Emery's side even without Neymar
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Your support makes all the difference.Neymar has accused Marseille fans of throwing objects that included baguettes at him during Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-2 draw on Sunday night, in which the world’s most expensive player was shown his first red card since moving to the French side.
The £200m forward was sent-off three minutes from full-time when PSG were still trailing 2-1 to their Ligue 1 rivals, having picked up two bookings in as many minutes.
However, his PSG coach, Unai Emery, claimed there were mitigating circumstances in his dismissal as he accused Marseille’s players of deliberately targeting the former Barcelona forward and being overly physical towards him on the pitch.
Off it, Neymar needed shielding from riot police when taking corners as projectiles were hurled his way, and it appeared that his temper finally boiled over when he barged into Marseille winger Lucas Ocampos, resulting in referee Ruddy Buquet showing him a second yellow card.
The 25-year-old rejected this claim though, and explained that the foul was simply a “mistake” rather than a sign of him losing his cool.
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“The supporters threw a lot of things at me, even baguettes. It was too much, that's not football,” Neymar told L'Equipe. “I didn't lose my cool. I accept my mistake. Marseille were good, but we were below-par.
“We can play much better. The pitch was dry and long. We need to get used to it: our opponents will try everything against us.”
With everything going against the Ligue 1 leaders, their unbeaten start to the season looked in genuine threat of coming to an abrupt end, only for striker Edinson Cavani to score a 93rd-minute free-kick and salvage a 2-2 draw and continue their 10-game streak without defeat in the league this season.
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Reflecting on the dismissal of Neymar, Emery was not impressed and believed that Buquet was harshly booked for the challenge on Ocampos.
“We're a little bit disappointed by the sending-off because he was fouled a lot throughout the game,” Emery said. “I think the referee also needs to think in a good way. We have to protect the players.
“I think the yellow card was not fair for Neymar. He's a player who wants to play, but if he is subjected to provocation, aggression in every game... I think the big players have to be protected and that goes for both teams.”
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