FORMER Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos left France forward Antoine Griezmann covered in blood after KICKING him in the HEAD during a Euro 2024 qualifier.
France and Greece were locked in a stalemate four minutes into the second half when the incident occurred.
A cross swung in from the left by Theo Hernandez looked set to find the head of Griezmann, before Mavropanos’ wildly high boot came flying in to clatter the Atletico Madrid man.
Both players hit the deck – with blood immediately streaming from the face of the ex-Barcelona man.
Referee Matheu Lahoz’s first course of action was to point to the penalty spot, before he swiftly ushered medical staff onto the pitch to treat Griezmann.
Some of Mavropanos’ team-mates appeared to be protesting the decision despite the blatant nature of the spot kick.
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Lahoz then walked over to the ex-Gunners man and booked him – with Mavropanos accepting of the call.
Griezmann’s head injury was treated for five minutes before he was bandaged up and continued playing.
Kylian Mbappe’s penalty was saved, but he was then given another chance after a re-take was ordered due to encroachment.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward, 24, made no mistake second time around as he dispatched what proved to be the only goal of the game.
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Mavropanos, who played eight times for Arsenal before leaving in 2022, was perhaps fortunate to get away with just a yellow card for the challenge on Griezmann.
But 20 minutes later the Stuttgart centre-back was given his marching orders when he denied a clear goalscoring opportunity by hauling down Randal Kolo Muani.
The result maintains France’s 100 per cent record in Euro 2024 qualifying as they move on to 12 points from four games.
Greece remain second with six points from three matches, with Republic of Ireland and Netherlands three points adrift and Gibraltar rock bottom.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
