Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
The football scriptwriters were working overtime this weekend, as Preston North End met in the FA Cup just two weeks after the incident involving Milutin Osmajic and Hannibal Mejbri.
Burnley may be flying high in the Championship right now, with the Clarets on a record-breaking run of form in pursuit of promotion, but they have now been dumped out of the FA Cup.
A 3-0 win for Preston North End at Deepdale saw Paul Heckingbottom’s side progress to the quarter-finals of the iconic competition, leaving Burnley to focus on league duty from here on out.
But, the victory was overshadowed by the involvement of Milutin Osmajic, with the Preston striker playing a key role in the win for his team, to leave Burnley fans fuming.
Burnley players refused to shake hands with Milutin Osmajic before the game
Exactly two weeks ago, Osmajic was accused of racially abusing Mejbri in the league meeting between Preston and Burnley at Deepdale.
After the game, Mejbri said: “I am a strong person, but nobody should have to experience this disgusting abuse on the pitch.”
The incident is subject of an investigation by the FA at present, meaning Osmajic was allowed to play against Burnley this weekend. Mejbri, meanwhile, was left out of Scott Parker’s squad, presumably to try and remove some of the sting from the situation.
However, tensions were high regardless, with Burnley players refusing to shake Osmajic’s hand before the game as the two teams lined up. And that was just the start of the issues on the day.
Milutin Osmajic scores crucial goal for Preston vs Burnley before controversial celebration
As fate would have it, Osmajic ended up getting on the scoresheet in the big win over Burnley, with the Preston man firing in his team’s second goal to take control of the game.
But, it’s how the Montenegrin striker reacted after his goal that has incensed Burnley fans and many neutrals. After slotting away a really impressive finish, Osmajic wheeled away to celebrate in front of the travelling Clarets’ fans and did not hold back.
Omajic held his hands to his ears as if to ask the Burnley fans why he couldn’t hear them anymore, after naturally receiving a lot of stick before and during the match to that point.
Interestingly, Omsajic did not receive a booking for his celebration. Surely, you’d think this celebration was more inflammatory than Everton man Iliman Ndiaye’s seagull celebration against Brighton earlier this year.
FA rules state that acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way is a yellow card offence. Somehow, Osmajic wasn’t deemed guilty of that on this occasion.