Football world erupts over star's reaction to 'disgusting' incident

Sevilla goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic turned the tables on a pitch invader after a shocking incident in his side's Europa League second leg match against Dutch side PSV. Despite losing 2-0 on the night and seeing their goalkeeper assaulted by a pitch invader, Sevilla progressed to the round of 16 with a 3-2 aggregate victory.

The match was overshadowed by an ugly incident during the closing stages of the match, when a PSV supporter ran onto the pitch and approached the opposition's goalkeeper. Dmitrovic braced himself for some sort of altercation after seeing the man running towards him, but he probably never expected to be struck in the face after a coward punch from the pitch invader.

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Incredibly, the Sevilla shot-stopper took the blow to his face, before turning the tables on his attacker in style. Dmitrovic refused to be provoked into a retaliatory punch and instead pounced on his attacker, who had fallen to the ground after lashing out.

The keeper then pinned the pitch invader down on the pitch, until security - who had been apparently non-existent up until that point - came over to escort the attacker out of the stadium. Dmitrovic said it took most of his strength not to hit the man, and said violence like that had no place in football.

"He pushed me from behind and tried to hit me," Dmitrovic told Movistar+. "He caught my nose and neck a little.

"The truth is that I wanted to hit him. If you want to hit someone, you sign up for a sport like boxing.

"Football doesn't deserve these things. I hope they punish him. It was a surprise, because you are focused on the game.

"I've never struck anyone in my life, but I know how to defend myself. It's not good in football or in life. The important thing is we have progressed."

Man United come from behind to eliminate Barcelona

In the day's other Europa League games, Manchester United booked their place in the next round with a come-from-behind 2-1 win against Barcelona that sealed a 4-3 aggregate victory. Second half goals from Fred and his Brazilin counterpart Antony - who came off the bench to brilliant affect - saw Erik Ten Hag's men progress at the expense of the La Liga leaders.

United went behind at Old Trafford after a contentious Robert Lewandowski penalty awarded in the 18th minute when Bruno Fernandes was adjudged to have fouled defender Alejandro Balde. The hosts survived nervy moments late on but saw out a first win over Barca since 2008 - 1-0 in the second leg of the 2007-08 Champions League semi-final - to end a five-game winless run against the Spanish side.

Earlier, Angel Di Maria grabbed a hat-trick as Juventus eased to a 3-0 win for a 4-1 victory on aggregate at 10-man Nantes to reach the Europa League round of 16. Juventus only managed a 1-1 draw against the French side in the home leg as they eyed a long run in the European competition to boost a miserable campaign in which they have been deducted 15 Serie A points for financial irregularities.

In France, Monaco lost 3-2 to Bayer Leverkusen to end their tie at 5-5. The hosts were then eliminated after losing a penalty shootout 5-3. Leverkusen join Sporting who crushed Midtjylland 4-0 to advance 5-1 on aggregate.

Roma beat RB Salzburg 2-0 as Joe Mourinho's men advanced 2-1 on aggregate, while Union Berlin posted a 3-1 victory over Ajax for a 3-1 win in the tie. Shakhtar Donetsk beat Rennes 5-4 on penalties after their tie ended 3-3 on aggregate, with hosts Rennes winning Thursday's match 2-1. The draw for the round of 16 will be held on Friday.

with agencies

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