Written by Andrew Gilpin at Mirror.UK.com
Former Manchester United player Patrice Evra was at the centre of a vicious bust up with his own fans before a European match.
In shocking footage, Marseille players appeared to clash with their own supporters ahead of the Europa League match at Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal.
After taking abuse from his own fans for 30 minutes before the game even kicked off, things came to a head after the warm up.
The players went over to the visiting fans – who had also let off flares – and angry full-back Evra aimed a karate kick at one of them.
A close up picture shows Evra aim the high kick at a supporter – in a scene much like the famous incident where fellow Frenchman Eric Cantona attacked a Crystal Palace fan.
After appearing to strike the fan in the head, Evra was then was ushered away by a team-mate.
Evra was then sent off before the game even began and forced into the homestand to watch the match.
As he was one of the substitutes the Ligue Un side’s boss Rudi Garcia could only call on six from the bench for the match.
Amazingly the Frenchman was later seen posing for selfies with young fans in the stand.
According to tweets from journalists at the match, Evra had been a victim of insults from the Marseille supporters before the flashpoint.
Fans are apparently unhappy with the Frenchman’s performances this season and even broke through the barriers at the Estadio D Afonso Henriques to confront him.
Marseille boss Garcia revealed afterward Evra had reacted to taunts from the fans, but still criticised his actions.
“Pat has experience and he must not react, it’s obvious,” Garcia was quoted by L’Equipe as telling BeIN Sports.
“Patrice is a more than experienced player and we cannot respond to insults so low and so incredible because they come from one of our supporters.”
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