Maybe Hazard didn’t actually kick the ballboy? Footage from an angle which hasn’t been widely cited (unlike endless tweets from the ballboy which seem to show some sinister form of pre-meditation of divilment), appears to go some way to verifying Hazard’s claim that he was kicking the ball and not the ballboy. Or, at least, that was his intention.

It’s not conclusive but it that does look a bit like someone kicking a ball out from under someone else, rather than hammering them in the ribs with a vengeful boot.

It also looks like Hazard attempts to lift the ballboy up slightly to facilitate a swift toe poke to remove ball from under irritating ballboy. Which would again fit in with his pleas of innocence.

He’ll most likely remain guilty of charges of impatience, naivety and startling stupidity but perhaps not outright savagery.  

(h/t to 101 great goals)