Mason Greenwood is alleged to have spat at Aston Villa ace Amadou Onana, sparking a mass brawl during Saturday’s friendly against Marseille. Tyrone Mings was seen grabbing Greenwood by the shirt, with several other players involved in the mid-match scuffle.
Mings even ripped Greenwood’s shirt, with tensions boiling over during the pre-season fixture that was played at Marseille’s Stade Velodrome. UEFA aren’t expected to issue any disciplinary action against either side, given they have no jurisdiction over a pre-season friendly, but shocking details surrounding the skirmish have since emerged, with Greenwood believed to have been at the centre of things.
It’s reported by The Sun that Greenwood spat in the direction of Onana, having hacked him down with a late tackle in the 87th minute of the match. Greenwood received a yellow card for his role in the brawl and was immediately substituted by Marseille boss Roberto De Zerbi.
The fiery nature of the contest spilt over onto the touchline, with Villa boss Unai Emery and De Zerbi squaring up to each other. It came after Emery was unhappy with another heavy tackle, this time from Neal Maupay, who brought down Boubacar Kamara in injury time.
Commenting on the affair after full-time, ex-Brighton boss De Zerbi said: “Unai complained about my players and I didn’t like that. It’s up to me to talk to them. The match was heated but that’s what people came to see. They could have gone to the beach but they came to the Stade Velodrome.
“What I liked was the stadium, the enthusiasm of the crowd, and the atmosphere. We savoured it all. We played a great match against a very strong team, led by one of the best coaches in Europe. We could have been more aggressive in the first half, and higher up the pitch without the ball. Which we managed to do in the second half. It was harder for Aston Villa to get past the midfield,” the Italian coach disclosed to the press.
“At this level, there are never any friendly matches or training sessions: when you wear the jersey, you have to be 100 per cent. We mustn’t get caught out, because Friday’s match will be completely different.”
Villa completed their pre-season programme the following day, defeating Villarreal 2-0 at the Estadio de la Ceramica in Spain. Next up for the West Midlands outfit is their season opener at home to Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon, with matches against Brentford and Crystal Palace to come before the first international break of the campaign.