Chelsea’s Neto apologises for pushing over ball boy

Pedro Neto has apologised for pushing over a ball boy during Chelsea’s 5-2 defeat by Paris St‑Germain in the Champions League.

The 26-year-old was seen putting two hands on the young ball boy in stoppage time of the last-16 first-leg tie, causing him to fall on to a chair and sparking a mass altercation between both teams at Parc des Princes on Wednesday night.

Asked about the incident on TNT Sports after the game, Neto said: “I want to apologise to the ball boy. 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.

“My French is not very good, and [Portugal team-mate] Vitinha came over and said to him I was not like this.

“At the end he [the ball boy] laughed and I gave him my shirt and said sorry about 35 times. He could see what had happened and was happy with the situation.”

It is unclear whether Neto will face any further punishment by Uefa, but his actions came during a wider Chelsea collapse.

Head coach Liam Rosenior echoed the apology, adding: “I saw there was an altercation with the ball boy. But if there was anything from our side that was wrong or out of order, I apologise on behalf of the club.

Frustrations spilled over after the game when goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen, starting ahead of Robert Sanchez, wanted to walk straight down the tunnel.

Eventually Sanchez convinced the Denmark international to go and applaud the travelling Chelsea fans, and after the game Rosenior said the goalkeeper “held his hands up in the dressing room” after a costly mistake allowed PSG to regain the lead for the third time in a thrilling match.

Ultimately, two late goals from substitute Khvicha Kvaratskhelia exposed further flaws in Chelsea’s concentration and discipline – issues Rosenior was keen to emphasise.

“The last 15, 20 minutes were crazy in many aspects,” he continued. “That’s on me. I need to be better in moments – setbacks, mistakes happen.

“But you have to stay calm in the moment, me included. And we didn’t, and we were punished by a very good team, which makes the scoreline a painful one because for 75 minutes we were in the tie and in the game.

“It’s something we’ve spoken about from my first day coming in – about reacting positively, about staying calm in pressure moments, and it’s not happened. We won’t reach our potential and it’s my job to find the answer.”