Emotions were high among Aston Villa fans who saw their team suffer a shock 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace on Wednesday night and one young supporter was unable to contain his fury.
Unai Emery's men were dumped out of the Carabao Cup following the loss to the Eagles, who have made a slow start to the new campaign.
Villa were looking to claim their first piece of silverware since 1996 but goals from Eberechi Eze and Daichi Kamada saw the visitors progress to the last-eight. Away from the on-field action, there was incident that sent social media into a frenzy.
In the final minutes of the match, Palace defender Daniel Munoz accidently struck a ball boy, who was sat near the touchline, with a ball. The Colombian immediately apologised but this was perceived to be a time-wasting tactic by the fans nearby.
Unconvinced by the defender's plea, one young Aston Villa fan responded to the 28-year-old by giving him two middle fingers. The Palace star appeared unfazed by the gesture.
Villa came into the match off the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw with Bournemouth last weekend but that didn't stop Emery from making 10 changes for the visit of Oliver Glasner's side.
As Villa fans vented their fury on social media, Emery was forced to defend his policy, insisting: ‘Of course we want to win a trophy, so we’re disappointed.
‘We started with 11 players in the first-team squad so I don’t know if I can have some regrets.
‘The players tried their best and I have to accept the result.’
Credit to Glasner as the pressure on the Eagles manager further eased following Sunday’s excellent win over Tottenham.
Palace led in the eighth minute when Daniel Munoz crossed from the right and Eze headed home powerfully.
Eze was then forced off with a hamstring problem in the 18th minute and Villa fashioned an equaliser midway through the first half. The ball fell invitingly to Jhon Duran inside the 18-yard box and he fired home a sweetly struck left-foot shot.
Palace were then dealt another blow before the break when midfielder Adam Wharton was substituted with a groin strain. In the 64th minute, though, Kamada seized on an errant pass from Diego Carlos.
The summer signing from Lazio collected possession around 25 yards from goal and created space to drill a low, right-foot shot into the net.
Palace will travel to the Emirates to take on Arsenal in the next round of the competition.