Controversy at Manchester City 曼城上演的一場(chǎng)爭(zhēng)議球賽

A thrilling game between Manchester City and Arsenal on Saturday was marred 被污染 by ugly scenes as City’s Emmanuel Adebayor injured his former team-mate 前隊(duì)友 Robin van Persie, and infuriated 激怒的 the Arsenal fans with a goal celebration that many felt was inappropriate.

Manchester City should have been delighted with their 4-2 win over Arsenal; however, they are now being investigated by the FA for the two incidents involving Adebayor, who may now face a four-match suspension 停賽四場(chǎng).

This game was always going to be a spirited affair 精神飽滿的一場(chǎng)球賽, as it was the first time that Emmanuel Adebayor had faced his former club and the fans that fell out of love with him last season.

The first spark of controversy came when Adebayor appeared to stamp 踩 on the face of Arsenal’s Robin van Persie after a mistimed tackle 不合時(shí)機(jī)的搶球.

Although Adebayor apologised for the act in a post-match TV interview, van Persie issued a statement on the Arsenal website, accusing him of deliberately making a "mindless and malicious stamp 沒頭腦的惡意的踩踏".

Van Persie said that Adebayor "had his own agenda today and that is bad for football".

The phrase 'have your own agenda' means that you have a different and possibly sinister motivation 兇惡的動(dòng)機(jī) for your actions.

Adebayor went on to cause further outrage 暴行 after scoring City's third goal ten minutes from the end of the game, running the full length of the pitch to slide on his knees in front of the Arsenal supporters.

The Arsenal fans reacted with fury 憤怒, showering bottles and other missiles down onto the pitch towards their team's ex-player.

A match steward 賽場(chǎng)治安管理人員 was knocked unconscious 被打得不省人事 after receiving a head injury from a flying object during the disturbance.

Adebayor apologised for his actions after the match, saying that after scoring a goal "for two or three seconds I can’t control myself".

"To be honest, I’m very sorry for all this," he added.

City manager Mark Hughes was quick to try and explain his player’s actions.

"When I said we need to cut him some slack it was because of the breakdown 崩潰 in his relationship with the Arsenal fans last season," said Hughes.

The expression 'to cut somebody some slack' means to give them an opportunity to recover from their mistakes.

"That was the sad part for him. He really loved his time at Arsenal, he will tell you that himself, but for whatever reason he wasn't appreciated by his own fans at the end and that is hard to take as a professional footballer," said Hughes.