Brentford win marred by ‘terrible’ bottle throwing incident
Everton’s stuttering start to the new season continued last night as they were dumped out of the Carling Cup by League One side Brentford at Griffin Park.
David Moyes’ men currently sit second bottom of the league, and struggled to contain a fired-up Brentford side who went onto win the game 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal time.
The memorable win for the west-Londoners was overshadowed however by Moyes’ claims that he saw a Brentford fan throw a bottle into the contingent of Everton fans just seconds after Phil Jagielka missed the penalty that handed the Bees’ the win.
"I thought it was terrible, I saw a fan throw a bottle into our fans,” Moyes told the BBC.
"I said to him 'I saw your face. I saw who you were’. He got a bottle and went right up and threw it right into the middle of our group of supporters."
He added: "If the police want me to follow it up and try to find the individual that threw the bottle into the crowd then that would be fine by me, it wouldn't be a problem.
"I didn't grab him. I wanted to but obviously that would have brought more attention to the situation."
Everton had started the match brightly and looked firmly in control from the minute Seamus Coleman gave them the lead with six minutes gone, but a Gary Alexander equalizer just before half time changed the complexion of the game as Brentford went onto be the better side in the second half without finding a winning goal.
In the shoot-out, Jermaine Beckford and Jagielka missed their spot-kicks for Everton, leaving the Bees celebrating a famous victory.
Brentford boss Andy Scott, who has been under pressure this season after a poor start to their league campaign, was left beaming at the final whistle and is hoping for another money-spinning tie in the next round.
"It's great for the fans and for us and hopefully we can get a bit of exposure,” he told the club’s official website.
"We want a home side, we want a big club and we want it to be on television."
One man that won’t be waking up this morning with a smile across his face will be Bolton boss Owen Coyle who ran the gauntlet of the Burnley fans on his first return to Turfmoor since he jumped ship last season. Coyle was escorted to the dug-out by eight stewards as he received a somewhat frosty reception from his former fans and it didn’t get much better for him as his side were beaten 1-0. Wade Elliot grabbed the goal in the first half and current boss Brian Laws is glad the club can now finally move on following the prolonged Coyle episode.
"It is nice to get it out of the way,” Laws told the BBC. “It has been hanging around for a long time. It needed this game, otherwise it would be going on for a few seasons.
"The supporters have got it off their chests. Now it is time to move on into a new era and concentrate on what we have here."
Upsets were at a premium elsewhere as Wolves managed to see off Notts County 4-2 in extra time and Birmingham notched three goals in seven first half minutes to dispose of MK Dons 3-1.
West Ham progressed to the next round with a 2-1 win over Sunderland, whilst Stoke had too much firepower for Fulham as they won 2-0 at the Britannia.
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