Arsenal face FA missile probe

ARSENAL are facing a possible Football Association investigation after missiles were thrown at Chelsea’s Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole during yesterday’s game at the Emirates.

Lampard was preparing to take a corner when a fake camera was thrown from a section of home supporters, missing him by inches. The missile was handed to the fourth official by referee Andre Marriner, who called for extra stewards to be deployed in that corner of the stadium. Cole was later the target of a plastic bottle thrown after he set up the first Chelsea goal.

The FA is likely to take a dim view of the incident, especially as this is not the first time Arsenal supporters have been involved in crowd trouble in recent months.

Cristiano Ronaldo was pelted with objects after scoring his first goal in last season’s Champions League semi-final second leg at the Emirates, while travelling Gunners fans also threw missiles at Emmanuel Adebayor as he celebrated provocatively in front of them at Eastlands in September.

The north London club is likely to face a fine following this latest incident yesterday, although it is not beyond the FA’s power to force the club to close areas of the ground if they are deemed a safety risk to players.

Meanwhile, the Dutch football association claim they kept Arsenal fully informed about Robin van Persie’s ankle injury after manager Arsene Wenger accused them of “minimising” the seriousness of the problem.

Van Persie suffered ruptured ankle ligaments during Holland’s friendly against Italy in Pescara on November 14, and it has now emerged that he requires surgery and faces up to five months on the sidelines.

Wenger claimed the injury was “much worse” than the Dutch football association (KNVB) had initially told them.

The KNVB have now given their version of events, claiming in a statement: “Directly after Robin van Persie got injured the doctor of the Netherlands team diagnosed an ankle ligament problem.

“The medical staff of the KNVB contacted Arsenal club doctor Gary O’Driscoll to inform him about the outcome of the investigation and to transfer the medical record.”