Footage has emerged of Manchester City midfielder Rico Lewis being hit in the head by a cigarette lighter thrown by a fan.
What happened between Manchester City and Burnley?
Playing in the opening game of the 2023/24 Premier League season, the current holders travelled to face newly promoted Burnley.
Of course, this was former City captain Vincent Kompany welcoming his ex-team to Turf Moor and he would have been desperate for a good start.
However, quite the opposite happened as last season’s Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland opened the scoring after just four minutes.
Not long after, Burnley attempted to come forward but City youngster Lewis won the ball back by his own corner flag, before being bundled over to win a foul after a clumsy challenge by Josh Cullen – as you can see below.
As he was knocked to the ground, and a foul was given, before a Burnley supporter embarrassed their own fanbase by belting what appeared to be a cigarette lighter at Lewis’ head from close range – as you can see in the footage shared on Twitter.
You can also see another angle with this image below.
Unsurprisingly, the 18-year-old was left clutching his head in pain but was fortunately able to continue with the game after eventually getting back to his feet, while authorities at Turf Moor were left to investigate.
Burnley have since released a statement on Twitter, writing: “We are aware of an incident that happened in the first half of the match where a missile was thrown at Manchester City player Rico Lewis.
“This is unacceptable. The person responsible has been identified and removed from the ground by the police.
” Any individual found guilty of throwing missiles within the stadium will receive a banning order.”
Fans on social media were understandably furious and vented their anger. Here are some of the best reactions…
Who is Rico Lewis and where does he play?
Still only 18 years of age, the teenager has managed to earn the trust of his manager Pep Guardiola enough to start this first game of the new campaign after bursting onto the scene last season.
Indeed, Lewis played 14 league games as City won the division, featured twice as they won the Champions League, and twice in the Carabao Cup – meaning he was well and truly involved in their Man City’s treble despite being so young.
What’s more, he has shown his versatility with his ability to play either as a right-back or sometimes as a deep midfielder.
Unsurprisingly, his manager has praised him highly in the past. For instance, back in January, Guardiola compared him to a former great from Bayern Munich.
He told the press (via Manchester Evening News): “There are players who play for themselves really well, but he has the ability to make all the team play better.
“He has this ability and it’s not easy to find it. He is our little Philipp Lahm.”
In the same press conference, Guardiola suggested that Lewis makes other players, like Kevin De Bruyne, play better.
Despite this incident, Lewis impressed again for City and played 79 minutes as his team won 3-0 thanks to a brace from Halaand and a second-half effort from Rodri.
