West Ham to ban pitch invaders for life after fans disrupt Tottenham EFL Cup tie

Fright night: one of the pitch invaders
Action Images via Reuters
Ken Dyer1 November 2018

West Ham will hand lifetime bans to two supporters who disrupted Wednesday’s EFL Cup tie against arch-rivals Tottenham by running on to the London Stadium pitch.

The east London club are already under scrutiny after being charged by the FA last June following crowd trouble during the Premier League match against Burnley in March, which included four fans invading the pitch, although no decision has yet been reached on any possible punishment.

West Ham were beaten 3-1 last night and manager Manuel Pellegrini said afterwards: “Really, I don’t think it is good for football. One of the most important things is the Premier League is always organised, so this is not good.”

The Premier League and the FA now look certain to investigate Wednesday’s incidents after the fans — one of whom was wearing a Halloween mask — evaded stewards in separate incidents.

Both the club and stadium operators, LS 185, who are responsible for stewarding, will be asked for their comments.

One of the incidents led indirectly to a Spurs goal. Angelo Ogbonna was involved in apprehending one of the culprits before a quickly-taken Spurs corner was volleyed home by Fernando Llorente, with the West Ham defender still unsettled.

Pellegrini, though, was not making excuses, saying: “When you lose a goal like that and the game, it is not good to try and find excuses.”

As well as the pitch incidents, there were reports of trouble in the crowd.

The clubs have become engulfed in a fierce London rivalry in recent years, with tensions increasing after West Ham’s 1-0 win over Spurs in 2017 effectively ended their title challenge under Mauricio Pochettino. Hammers fans were then filmed celebrating outside the ground, to rub it in the faces of angry Spurs supporters.

The mood were also nasty during Spurs’s 1-0 League win at the London Stadium this month and an hour into the Carabao Cup clash, more than 50 stewards were involved in separating fans.

The incident occurred after Heung-Min Son had doubled the visitors’ lead with his second goal.

A handful of West Ham fans appeared to jump towards the away supporters, but the stewards were quick to defuse the situation and they were held back.

After the altercation, security and stewarding was increased to stop things from boiling over.

West Ham had their chances on Wednesday, but poor defending and individual mistakes cost them dearly.

“We created a lot of chances, but the first two goals were mistakes and they scored easy goals,” said 19-year-old Declan Rice, who again was outstanding.

In Pictures | EFL Cup | 31/10/2018

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“The third one was a marking mistake, but we have got to move on quickly and look forward to our next match against Burnley on Saturday.

“We’re creating chances, getting lots of corners, but we have to start turning those opportunities into goals. You don’t move up the Premier League or win cups if you don’t score goals.”

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