Serie A game marred as Lecce coach head-butts Verona striker

Lecce coach Roberto D’Aversa head-butted Hellas Verona striker Thomas Henry following a heated clash between two teams just above the relegation zone in Serie A on Sunday.

Henry was arguing with Lecce defender Marin Pongracic after the final whistle when D’Aversa went over to intervene and instead ended up knocking Henry over with a head-butt.

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“Next Saturday we have another big match [against Salernitana] and I didn’t want my players to be banned,” D’Aversa said. “So I went out to try and separate them from the opponents and then the incident with Henry happened.

“I’ve already apologized to Verona’s management,” D’Aversa said. “As a coach and father of three kids, I want to apologize for what happened.”

Both D’Aversa and Henry were sent off.

Michael Folorunsho scored early in the first half for Verona, who won 1-0 to move up to 13th place, two points above the drop zone. Lecce dropped one point behind in 15th.