Saint-Etienne facing UEFA rap for Old Trafford flares

Joe Wright

Saint-Etienne facing UEFA rap for Old Trafford flares image

UEFA has opened a disciplinary case against Saint-Etienne over the conduct of the French club's fans during their Europa League match with Manchester United on Thursday.

Dozens of red and green flares were set off in the away end of Old Trafford shortly before kick-off, causing a significant amount of smoke to billow across the pitch.

Keane slams Pogba brothers

UEFA has announced that they will investigate alleged breached of two other crowd offences, with the organisation's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Board to convene on the issue on March 23.

"Disciplinary proceedings have been opened against AS Saint-Etienne due to the behaviour of their supporters during their UEFA Europa League Round of 32 match against Manchester United FC on February 16, 2017 at Old Trafford," a statement confirmed.

"The following proceedings have been opened against AS Saint-Etienne for the following infringements:

How can you be more Zlatan?

"Setting off of firework – Art. 16 (2) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR); Throwing of objects – Art. 16 (2) DR; Improper conduct of supporters – Art. 16 (2) DR."

United triumphed 3-0 to secure a substantial aggregate lead, thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic's first hat-trick for the club.

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.