Stoke City midfielder Jermaine Pennant has described how he was the target of missiles thrown by Besiktas fans during the team’s 3-1 loss in Turkey.
Pennant was preparing to take a second-half corner when lighters and coins rained down on him from the stands. Striker Ricardo Fuller was also targeted after scoring the Potters’ only goal, according to reports.
“I was about to take a corner and I was getting pelted with everything, lighters, Euro coins, I was thinking of picking one up and putting it in my sock!” Pennant told The Daily Mirror.
“I didn’t want to take it because every second I could see things flying past me. Until that stopped I didn’t feel comfortable taking the corner and then obviously the referee called me away.”
Stoke manager Tony Pulis revealed that the club would not be making a complaint to Uefa, however.
“We won’t be complaining to anyone,” he insisted. “We’re Stoke and we don’t complain. Hopefully we’ll have benefited from all this.”
Pennant admitted that the fierce atmosphere at the Inonu Stadium had made it difficult for Stoke as they suffered their first loss in the Europa League this season.
“I’ve played here before so I know what the atmosphere’s like,” Pennant said. “They had a lot of possession and a lot of creativity but with 11 men we were holding on.
“The penalty and going down to 10 men just put us right on the back foot and they got hold of the game.”
Stoke had already qualified for the knockout stages of the competition.