Former Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero claims he was taunted by River Plate's Agustin Palavecino moments before sparking a mass brawl in the Superclasico.
Romero, who signed for Boca Juniors in August, conceded a 93rd-minute Miguel Borja penalty as River extended their lead at the top of the Argentine Primera Division. However, after the goal was conceded, the 36-year-old took issue with the opposing players which led to a fight breaking out between the two teams.
After the chaos had subsided, the referee sent off River's Palavecino, Ezequiel Ignacio Centurion and Elias Gomez. Meanwhile, Boca's Miguel Merentiel, Ezequiel Fernandez and Nicolas Valentini also received their marching orders.
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River would hold on to the 1-0 win but the controversy was far from over. In a post-match press conference, Romero explained his actions and why the brawl began.
"I told the boys from River to their faces, they, with the previous coach, managed to get all of football to respect them," he said. "Not only because they won games or won titles, but because of their behaviour.
"Now they disrespected us. This boy [Palavecino] ignored that, instead of going to celebrate the goal with his teammates and Borja at the corner, he yelled the goal in the face of my defenders.
"First I thought he was shouting with his people, but no, he was looking at us, that’s what generated our reaction. I reacted, I ran out and grabbed him by the waist and asked him why he was doing that and then my colleagues thought that I went to fight and they came after me, the same with the River players."
River are currently managed by former Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis and they currently hold a 19-point advantage over their great rivals Boca who are 13th in the table. Romero was speaking to the media afterwards because his manager Jorge Almiron was also red carded.
Despite the dismissals, Romero was shocked the referee dished out so many red cards. He added: "That was another strange situation.
"I asked him [the referee] why he threw three players out and he told me because in the VAR they told him they threw punches. I asked the boys and they said no, let’s see the images again to see if they threw punches or not."
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