Soccer-Neto apologises for pushing ball boy during Chelsea's 5-2 loss


Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Round of 16 - First Leg - Paris St Germain v Chelsea - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - March 11, 2026 Chelsea's Pedro Neto checks on ball boy after falling into him Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra

March 12 (Reuters) - Chelsea winger Pedro ⁠Neto apologised for pushing a ball boy during Wednesday's 5-2 ⁠Champions League defeat to Paris St Germain, an incident that added ‌to a chaotic end to the visitors' late collapse.

The 26-year-old shoved the ball boy in stoppage time at the Parc des Princes, sending him into a chair and triggering a ​confrontation between players.

"I want to apologise to ⁠the ball boy," Neto told TNT ⁠Sports. "I have already spoken to him."

"We were losing and in the emotion ⁠of ‌the game I wanted to get the ball fast and I gave him a little push.

"I'm not like this. It was ⁠in the heat of the moment and I want ​to apologise. I gave ‌him my shirt. I'm really sorry about it - I feel I ⁠have to ​apologise to him ... He could see what had happened and was happy with the situation."

Head coach Liam Rosenior also apologised for the incident.

"If there was anything from ⁠our side that was wrong or out of ​order, I apologise on behalf of the club," he said.

Luis Enrique's side twice went ahead through Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele but were pegged back ⁠each time by Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernandez, before Vitinha and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, with a double, netted three late goals to put the hosts in control of the tie.

The visitors' disappointment was evident at full time, with ​goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen attempting to head straight down ⁠the tunnel before Robert Sanchez urged him back to applaud the travelling supporters.

Chelsea ​will play Newcastle United on Saturday in the ‌Premier League before hosting PSG on Tuesday ​in the second leg of the last-16 tie in the Champions League.

(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)

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