Adebayor labels Arsenal players a 'disgrace'

Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has hit back at Arsenal amid the continuing fallout from his controversial performance at Eastlands last weekend. The Togo international has been banned for three matches for his stamp on Robin van Persie in City’s 4-2 win over the Gunners last Saturday.

He faces the threat of further punishment if the Football Association take a dim view of his controversial goal celebration in the same game.

His relationship with his former Gunners team-mates took a further nosedive yesterday when Cesc Fabregas claimed that he, too, was the victim of an alleged Adebayor stamp in last weekend’s heated clash, but the City striker insists it was the Arsenal players who were at fault.

“There were players from Arsenal who refused to shake my hand before the match,” Adebayor said. “I don’t want to give you their names — that is not my style — but there’s more than one of them.

“My friends, like Eboue, were fine with me. They are decent people. But I could not understand some of the Arsenal players being disrespectful towards me.

“I can just about understand the fans’ reaction because they don’t know the full story. However the way some of the players behaved is just crazy. When a man offers you his hand, you shake it. For them to act like that was a disgrace.”

Adebayor, who is banned for Sunday’s Manchester derby and will also miss the Carling Cup game with Fulham and Premier League encounter with West Ham, feels the angry reaction of some Arsenal fans following his summer exit is hard to comprehend.

“An offer came in for me and, as I understand it, Arsene and the club accepted the offer the same day,” he said. “It wasn’t my fault I left, it was Arsene who wanted to accept the offer for me.

“I wasn’t making any comments in the press about wanting to leave or being unhappy. It was the club who wanted to sell me yet I am being abused by the fans who once cheered me.

“I think, in terms of class on the pitch, we [City] have overtaken Arsenal and that was a reason for some of the hostility.”

He added: “People talk about us as being football players and the money we earn, but just because we are fortunate it does not mean we need to take abuse. If you were to abuse a man in the street for over an hour he would react and it would be a worse reaction than a goal celebration.

“There is only so much abuse a man can take until he reaches breaking point.”

Adebayor’s robust defence of his actions comes as Fabregas claims he has a gash on his leg which proves he fell victim to his former team-mate’s violent conduct.

“I think this is a red card here,” said Fabregas, reportedly gesturing to his leg and claiming the injury was suffered in an Adebayor challenge studied by the FA yesterday before they banned the City striker for stamping on Van Persie.

“I was lucky my foot was in the air when it happened,” Fabregas added. “All I tried to do when he [Adebayor] was at Arsenal was to create opportunities for him to score — so I think I didn’t do too bad for him.”

Fabregas and his fellow Gunner Emmanuel Eboue were both shocked by Adebayor’s

behaviour last weekend.

“I have no idea why he acted like this,” said Eboue. “We always respected him.

“He didn’t do well because you have a lot of young people who watch the game and they see that, and it’s no good for football.

“But I am very, very happy because the FA have given him a three-game ban (for the Van Persie stamp). What he did was no good for football. I am very disappointed about it, very disappointed.”