Former Manchester United attacker Memphis Depay sparked a mass brawl in Corinthians’ 1-0 aggregate win over Palmeiras, which gave the São Paulo outfit their first title in six years.
The Dutch forward signed for United in 2015 in the Louis van Gaal era.
He could never really live up to his promise though as he made just 53 appearances for the club, scoring seven goals.
Depay was sold after just two years to Olympique Lyonnais, where he enjoyed five successful seasons before brief spells at FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Last year he moved to Brazil, where he has scored nine goals in 30 matches for Corinthians.
In a typically feisty South American encounter, there were four red cards and 13 yellow cards shared out amongst the players and coaching staff.
At the centre of the carnage was Depay.
TalkSPORT report that “with Corinthians desperately holding onto their slender advantage, Depay attempted a bit of showboating by the corner flag – standing on the ball with his arms outstretched.”
“His behaviour ended up triggering an all-out melee when an opposition player stormed over and shoved him off the ball.”
The Palmeiras players clearly took exception to Depay’s actions and felt that he was disrespecting them unnecessarily in such an emotional moment of the match.
Two players, one from each side, were given their matching orders after the on-pitch altercation.
Tempers were already flaring after Corinthians escaped a red card when their captain Felix Torres gave away a penalty but avoided a second yellow card, leaving the opposition furious.
Nonetheless, Depay had the last laugh as he won his first piece of silverware in Brazil for his new club.
Featured image Alex Bierens de Haan via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
