SEVILLE - Real Betis have expressed their "revulsion" at the bottle-throwing incident which caused the abandonment of their Primera Liga clash with Athletic Bilbao on Saturday night.
Referee Carlos Clos Gomez took the teams off with 18 minutes remaining after Athletic goalkeeper Armando Ribeiro was struck by a bottle thrown from the stands behind the goal.
Armando appeared to be bleeding from a cut just below his right eye, and had to be stretchered off.
The goalkeeper was walking back to take a goal-kick when he was struck and went down clutching his face.
A man was later taken away by police, and the club were quick to release a statement condemning his actions.
"Real Betis wants to show its strongest revulsion at the event that happened 23 minutes into the second half, that has resulted in the injury of opposing goalkeeper Armando," the statement read.
"The club wishes to confirm to the supporters and to the public in general that the aggressor, who carries the initials CPR, is not associated with Real Betis and was immediately detained by the stadium security, who have declared he will be denied entry to the ground for future sporting events.
"We also want to thank the immediate reaction of the public who helped at all times with the identification and arrest of the aforementioned individual."
The bottle was thrown shortly after visiting Athletic had taken a 2-1 lead thanks to David Lopez's 66th-minute penalty.
Betis could be facing a heavy punishment following the incident.
The Seville-based outfit were handed a three-match stadium ban last March after a similar incident marred their Copa del Rey quarter-final second-leg clash against local rivals Sevilla.
Sevilla were leading the match 1-0 after 56 minutes when the game was stopped after their then coach Juande Ramos was knocked unconscious by a bottle thrown from the stands.
The incident happened soon after Sevilla had taken the lead through striker Frederic Kanoute.
Saturday's match at the Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera did not start well for the home side when Fran Yeste gave the visitors an early lead by slotting low past Betis goalkeeper Ricardo from 12 yards in the ninth minute.
Yeste had to be replaced by Pablo Orbaiz on 31 minutes through injury, however, and Mark Gonzalez soon equalised with a close-range strike 10 minutes before the break, reacting first to the rebound from his original shot.
Substitute Lopez restored Athletic's lead in the second half when he converted from the spot after Arzu had brought down Fernando Llorente.
Arzu and Athletic's Igor Gabilondo were booked for dissent after the goal went in, and soon after Edu missed a headed chance to draw the game level the increasingly bad-tempered match was called off by the match officials.
