Joao Cancelo's unseen moment of kindness 'could have saved the life' of young Man City fan

Joao Cancelo should have been celebrating one of the pinnacle moments of his career at the final whistle of Manchester City's Premier League title-winning victory over Aston Villa. Instead, as thousands ran onto the pitch, he took the time to help a little boy on his own who had been separated from his dad.

Now, the parents of Ollie Gordon, 10, want to thank Cancelo for preventing a scary moment turning into a traumatic one, as the City full-back showed a moment of compassion that will leave a lasting impression on the whole family. However, before they could thank Cancelo, he had been ushered away by stewards — so the family have sent a letter to show their appreciation for his actions.

Ollie has autism, dyspraxia, and other developmental and co-ordination conditions, so needs constant supervision. However, as soon as the final whistle went and City had sealed another title, he followed everyone onto the Etihad pitch, temporarily losing his dad Lee in the process.

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"He took off running, he’s got autism and not aware of dangers or anything so got excited and started running," his mum Lauren tells MEN Sport.

"He goes to the stadium with his dad quite a lot, especially recently. I was watching on the telly and saw Lee running across the pitch but not Ollie. I was panicking and trying to get hold of his dad.He saw the Aston Villa keeper getting hit a foot away, you can see him on the videos. It scared him a bit and he saw Cancelo and headed towards him.

"Cancelo pulled him in, both arms around him like a bear hug, kissed the top of his head and was pushing people back. It was quite quick but