Reece James narrowly avoids bottle chucked from Arsenal crowd celebrating Chelsea goal

Tensions boiled over inside the Emirates after Reece James doubled Chelsea's advantage over Arsenal, with one fan chucking a bottle in the defender's direction

Posted Monday, August 23, 2021 by Thesun.co.uk

Chelsea defender Reece James narrowly avoided being hit by a bottle that was thrown at him by an Arsenal fan after putting the Blues 2-0 up at the Emirates.

The defender finished off a wonderful team move to double the advantage and raced off to the corner flag to celebrate his goal.

As he reached the perimeter of the pitch, one Arsenal fan lobbed a bottle of what appeared to be water in James's direction.

Thankfully, the container avoided the 21-year-old, who wasn't hurt in the disgraceful incident.

Supporters from all sides queued up to condemn the appalling act on social media.

Reece James only narrowly avoided being hit by a bottle that was thrown from the stands

One fan wrote: "Watching as a neutral, but a hearty "f*** you" to whoever threw a bottle onto the pitch where Reece James was celebrating."

Someone else said: "A bottle tossed at Reece James! Keep it classy Arsenal."

A third person added: "An #Arsenal fan just threw his mostly full beer bottle st Reece James as he was celebrating his goal. Disgusting. Be better."

"Whoever threw that bottle at Reece James needs to be removed and banned," was the view of a fourth Twitter user.

James was restored to Chelsea's starting line-up after missing last week's win over Crystal Palace, and it was a decision that paid off in spades for Thomas Tuchel.

The defender provided the assist for Romelu Lukaku's opener after just 15 minutes, finding acres of space on the right and delivering a pinpoint cross that was swept home by the Belgian for his first Blues goal.

He then got in on the act himself, finishing off a wonderful team move with a powerful right-footed finish that left Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno with no chance.

It completed a dominant first half for the west Londoners, who were a class above Mikel Arteta's side at a sodden Emirates Stadium.