Patrice Evra has taken to social media to break his silence with a message to Marseille fans after Thursday night's shocking incident.

The former Manchester United left-back was sent off before his side's 1-0 defeat to Vitoria for lashing out at a fan inside the stadium.

According to reports in France, Marseille supporters had been verbally abusing the defender during the warm-up for the Europa League match.

Evra is then alleged to have kicked a ball in the direction of the Marseille fans behind the goal, which caused the situation to spiral out of control.

Patrice Evra has finally broken his silence (
Image:
PA)

Moments later the Frenchman walked over to confront the fans, and was held back by his teammates as supporters leaped over the barriers.

Evra then aimed a karate kick at one of the fans, which resulted in him being sent off before the game had even started.

Evra has since been suspended for his actions.

Marseille fans displayed banners aimed at Evra (
Image:
AFP)

A statement from the Ligue 1 club earlier this week said: "Jacques-Henri Eyraud, President of Olympique de Marseille, met Patrice Evra today and informed him of his layoff with immediate effect and his summons to an interview prior to a possible disciplinary sanction."

Marseille supporters responded to Evra's suspension by displaying large banners during their next Ligue 1 game against Caen, which they won 5-0.

Evra had to be led away from the fans by his Marseille teammates (
Image:
AFP)

One read: "You thought you were above the institution of Marseille and its supporters," while another said: "We do not want you to play in our colours. Go away Evra."

The Frenchman, who is an avid social media user, had stayed off Instagram following the incident, but returned with a message to the fans following the 5-0 victory.

Posting alongside a picture of him doing a press-up on a TV screen, Evra wrote: "Great result tonight well done guys I'm really proud of you thanks to all real Olympique Marseille fans... I'm receiving so much support from them."

He included the hashtags 'I love this game', in reference to his social media catchphrase, and 'be a panda', an anti-racism scheme that he is a part of.

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