THE Manchester United photographer Cesar Azpilicueta smashed into after being shoved by Romelu Lukaku admitted he was lucky it wasn’t “someone bigger”.
United were held 1-1 by Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday after ex-Blue Juan Mata, 31, saw his Spanish team-mate Marcos Alonso, 28, ensure the points were shared.
But at 1-0 down it was the goalscorers’ countrymen Azpilicueta, 29, who found himself in a spot of bother after colliding shoulder to shoulder with Belgian powerhouse Lukaku, 25.
The former Chelsea striker sent full-back Azpilicueta reeling backwards before he crashed into photographer John Peters.
Speaking to the club afterwards, their official snapper was left sore and bruised but admitted the defender’s 5ft 10ins frame meant he escaped with less damage than otherwise possible.
He’s a stocky lad, but if it had been someone bigger I could have been dead!
John Peters on Cesar Azpilicueta collision
Peters said: “I was a bit sore yesterday, I have to tell you! I was a bit bruised.
I’ve got the video on my phone – someone sent it me – and I think I was a bit lucky really. He’s a stocky lad, but if it had been someone bigger I could have been dead!
“You can see on the last two frames I took before he hit me.
“They’re not the best, but I got the last two frames and then just put my camera down and thought, ‘Oh, s**t!’
“You could see he was a lot more concerned for me than himself. I mean, he’s a bloody professional footballer.
“But he was fine, too. It all happened very quickly. Obviously the game was still going on, so he just apologised and I told him, ‘Don’t worry, mate, no problem’.
“I just sat there a little bit dazed with only one lens, because the other one was in pieces.”
When asked about the incident, Azpilicueta told the Metro: “I was OK, maybe I was lucky I had the photographer just in front of me. I was going straight to the wall.
“It’s a fight, it’s a fight, we knew they are a very physical team.
“Physicality is part of football, the battles, I’m happy for it.”
United missed out on the chance to go level with fourth placed Chelsea, who lead Arsenal by just two points going into the final brace of games this season.
