Premier League to take action after controversial incident in Aston Villa win vs Everton

Aston Villa's win against Everton at Goodison Park was tarnished by Matty Cash and Lucas Digne being struck by a bottle thrown from the stands as they celebrated Villa's winning goal.

A 19-year-old man was charged with assault and throwing an item onto the pitch.

It follows a similar incident in a recent match between Manchester City and Arsenal, with Gunners fans throwing objects at City players after they scored a late winner.

With the aim of tackling the issue, the Premier League will meet with the Football Association, EFL and police this week to discuss increased incidents of crowd disorder.

Objects were thrown at players in two matches last weekend while, overall this season, football-related arrests are up 47 per cent.

The number of cases is up to 802 from 547 in 2019-20, the last campaign from which comparable data is available due to behind-closed-doors matches.

There have also been more incidents of fans encroaching onto the pitch, the latest coming during Southampton’s home match with Manchester City.

In addition to the meeting with the FA and EFL, it is understood Premier League officials will speak to top-flight clubs and the United Kingdom Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) about disorder.