Patrick Vieira’s red card history and battles as he reacts to abusive fan

Patrick Vieira was subjected to some shocking abuse on the pitch at Goodison Park as Everton celebrated their Premier League survival.

One fan filmed footage of him in Vieira's face screaming "Suck on that, you muppet. Get in," while several cries of "f**k off" were also heard.

Goaded by fans invading the pitch at full time, footage showed the Crystal Palace manager attempting to kick out and one Everton supporter.

Everton manager Frank Lampard said: "I feel for Patrick. I didn't get him at the end. I would have said 'Come in with us,' although he might not have wanted that. Of course, he ran 80 yards across the pitch and it’s not easy."

Vieira was known during his playing days as one of football's real hardmen and currently holds the joint record for the most red cards in Premier League history, with eight.

Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane feud

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During the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were usually only two teams in with a chance of winning the league, Manchester United and Arsenal.

The respective clubs were captained by no-nonsense men Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira. The intense rivalry between the clubs often boiled over into scraps and fights on and off the pitch.

With no quarter given, the most infamous incident between the two occurred in 2005 in the Highbury tunnel.

Keane, annoyed by what he felt was Vieiera's intimidation of United stalwart Gary Neville, was seen yelling at the Frenchman "we'll see you out there!".

The former United captain said in 2019: "I was never one for argy-bargy or slagging people off in the tunnel, but Patrick had threatened Gary [Neville] in the tunnel and I felt he crossed the line."

It wasn't the first time the paint had clashed, with one memorable moment coming in 1999. Keane took objection to Vieira bumping into him off the ball and the Irishman promptly kicked out at the one-time World Cup winner. They had already met a year earlier, quite literally coming head-to-head when Keane took objection to his opponent getting onto the ear of the referee.

Vieira once said: "I like to play against Roy Keane. He is a great competitor. Like me, he wants to win and we have had some good battles. But always, after the game, he will come and shake my hand. I like that, I respect that. He is one of the best midfield players I have come across and possibly the hardest I have played against."

Patrick Vieira's red cards

Patrick Vieira holds the joint record for the most amount of Premier League red cards, alongside Duncan Ferguson and Richard Dunne.

Coventry – January 1998

Patrick Vieira's first of eight Premier League red cards came against Coventry during the 1997-98 season when he received the second yellow for swearing at referee Steve Lodge.

The often volatile Frenchman was fined £20,000 by a Football Association commission in 1998 for making the v-sign at Sheffield Wednesday fans, though told the FA it was an understandable response to racist abuse from the crowd. In the same game, Italian Paolo di Canio pushed the referee to the ground.

Charlton – December 1998

Days after being fined for the v-sign gesture, Vieira was sent off against Charlton for an elbowing incident, though the incident was described as harsh.

West Ham – October 1999

Vieira was banned for six games and fined a record £45,000 for spitting at the Irons' Neil "Razor" Ruddock after he was sent off for a second foul on di Canio.

The Arsenal man was then involved in an "incident" with a police officer in the tunnel.

Sunderland and Liverpool – August 2000

The feisty midfielder was sent off twice in 72 hours, the first coming in a defeat to Sunderland when he Darren Williams with a retaliatory arm, reacting to the player pulling his shirt.

Two yellow cards in four minutes then followed only a few days later at home to Liverpool.

Leicester – August 2001

Patrick clashed with tenacious and dogged ex-Wimbledon and Chelsea man Dennis Wise against Leicester City.

The two arguing with their heads together caused referee Andy D'Urso to send them off.

Leicester boss Peter Taylor said: "The ref told me Dennis was sent off for a head-butt and that it was a straight red card. But I can't accept that because to me, looking at the video, it was just eyeballs, with both players wanting to make a point to each other.

"The strange thing for me as well is that the ref sent off Vieira with a second yellow card. I don't think he head-butted either and neither of them should have gone."

Chelsea – September 2002

Vieira and D'Urso argued again when the Frenchman met London rivals Chelsea.

He was banned for two matches by the FA after he was sent off for insulting D'Urso. In his match report, the referee wrote he had been called a "f*****g wanker with no personality".

Manchester United – September 2003

The last of Vieira's Premier League red cards occurred at the "Battle of Old Trafford" against arch-nemesis United.

Vieira kicked out against Dutch United man Ruud van Nistelrooy and was sent off despite not making contact with him.

Vieira and the Gunners players were furious as their captain saw red for the incident and things boiled over on the pitch.

The striker stepped up to take a last-minute penalty which would have won Sir Alex Ferguson's men the tie, but the ball was smashed against the bar. Arsenal, having secured a draw, taunted and pushed van Nistelrooy in an incident that went down in the league's folklore.

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