One Direction star ‘fouled’ in Petrov charity game
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The 21-year-old turned out for Celtic in a charity match between a Celtic XI and a Stiliyan Petrov XI - wearing 1D as his squad number in homage to his band - and came on as a first-half substitute for Didier Agathe after 35 minutes.
But the singer was bundled over - fairly - after less than 20 minutes on the pitch by Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor and landed on the Parkhead turf clutching his leg.
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Hide AdTomlinson made way for Hollyoaks actor Warren Brown 90 seconds after the challenge, which was met by a mixture of loud cheers and screams, amid furious tweeting from devoted fans of the boyband.
The frenzied reaction from the ‘Directioners’ was further exacerbated when Tomlinson vomited as he left the pitch.
Some fans of the band went so far as to threaten Agbonlahor on Twitter, with one user saying that the Villa striker would “die within 7 days”.
It’s not the first time that fans of the boyband have sent threats over Twitter. In August, a number of fans sent death threats to the official account of The Who, after unfounded rumours that guitarist Pete Townshend was considering suing the band over the similarities between Who song ‘Baba O’Reilly’ and One Direction’s ‘Best Song Ever’. One fan tweeted: “You’re messing with the wrong fandom. We can kill you if we get the chance.”
On the park, the Stilyan XI beat a Celtic XI 5-3, with Petrov’s former international team-mate, Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov, scoring a hat-trick and namesake Martin Petrov also scoring. Westlife singer Nicky Byrne scored the fifth.
Celtic legend Henrik Larsson scored for the Hoops, with Pierre van Hooijdonk and Brown also netting.
Comedian John Bishop missed a penalty for the Stiliyan XI .
• Video courtesy of BT Sport - www.sport.bt.com