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Police confront fans at Piccadilly Gardens
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Fan stabbed outside Eastlands
14/ 5/2008
A RUSSIAN fan was stabbed outside the City of Manchester football stadium after the UEFA Cup final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg.
The fan sustained non-life threatening injuries and six men, believed to be Rangers fans, have been arrested for a serious assault according to police.
Earlier, trouble flared in Manchester City centre after the big screen at Piccadilly Gardens failed just before the game kicked off.
Fans reacted furiously to the technical hitch, pelting the screen with bottles as the game started at the City of Manchester Stadium.
Rangers fans fought running battles with riot police on Market Street and Oldham Street. The screen originally showed a message saying the problem was being sorted out, but about 15 minutes into the game, it shut down completely.
Rangers fans, who had climbed on trucks, loos and statues to catch a look of the game, began to disperse from the area, while a police helicopter circled above.
Soon, railings surrounding the city centre fanzone had been torn down as angry supporters began squabbling and scuffling between themselves.
Tempers
By the time police arrived, tempers had reached fever pitch.
A number of fans were hit with batons, and officers had to use riot shields to protect themselves from glass being thrown. Stunned passers-by filmed the action as police pushed the hooligans farther away from Piccadilly.
Before the screen failure, thousands of fans had enjoyed a carnival atmosphere in the city centre in the build up to the game.
One fan, Elizabeth Gunn, 42, from Altrincham, said: “The Rangers fans are fantastic, but they’ve been badly let down.
“All my family have come from Scotland to watch the match, and they’ve been left disappointed. The council had plenty of time to make sure the signal was working. When the screen stopped working, the trouble began.
“People will say that Rangers fans are bad, but this has been very badly organised. I live in Manchester and I’m proud to come from Manchester and I’m proud to live in Manchester, but this is a disgrace. The city centre was strewn with empty pizza boxes, empty cans of lager, newspapers and plastic bags.”
Zenit won the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Igor Denisov and Konstatin Zyryanov.
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