West Ham will hand lifetime bans to two supporters who disrupted Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie by running on to the pitch.
The Hammers 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.
Manuel Pellegrini condemned the invaders saying: “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.”
Reporting the incidents the London Evening Standard says: “The Premier League and the FA now look certain to investigate Wednesday’s incidents after the fans 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.”
Perhaps they can give a lifetime ban to LS185 for a failure to provide adequate stewarding, this could have been a lot worse.
While there’s no doubt the defending overall on the night was pretty poor, the actions of that dimwit just before the corner was taken can’t have helped. Clearly someone else was using the family brain cell last night.