Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United have been charged by the Football Association for having failed to control their players during last Saturday’s encounter at the London stadium, reports Sky Sports.
Derbies are always going to be a feisty proposition and it was the same during the weekend. Both the teams’ players clashed late in the injury time of the second-half, in the 95th minute, over a free-kick incident.
West Ham were pushing hard for a late equaliser when the fracas happened. Referee Michael Oliver deemed that Hammers’ Andy Carroll fouled Tottenham substitute Fernando Llorente, and awarded a free-kick to the visitors. There was an immediate commotion with a large number of players getting involved in the ensuing melee.
Four players got booked as Carroll and Winston Reid from West Ham, and Llorente and Eric Dier from Tottenham made their way into Oliver’s books.
The two sides have time until 6 PM today to send in their responses to the charge. Post that, the FA will decide on the punishment and the quantum of punishment for the two sides.
It was a really feisty encounter at the London stadium as both sides showed how intense a derby can be. Tottenham claimed a 3-2 victory over their London rivals with Harry Kane scoring a brilliant double.
The scoreline looks a lot closer than what it was as Spurs dominated the proceedings for a large portion of the match. The visitors were even reduced to 10 men in the 70th minute of the encounter as defender Serge Aurier received a second yellow card.
With the Hammers netting their second goal of a failed comeback three minutes from the end of normal time, tempers flared and players from both sides went nose to nose.
After a slow start to their Premier League campaign, Spurs are now fourth in the table with 11 points from six matches. West Ham, on the other hand, are in the bottom three with four points from six matches, placed 18th. Tottenham are also enjoying a fine start to their Champions League campaign, with two wins from two placing them second in Group H.
Hopefully, there are no distractions as we continue playing some wonderful football throughout the course of the season.
Chelsea had been so charged with several times last season, and warned that they may be docked points if there were any repeats. They went berserk again against City in Manchester, and the TV cameras showed them literally assaulting City players. Yet no individual players were charged, they were not docked any points and they were given, what was it, a ten Bob fine? For Tottenham to be treated in a comparable fashion, considering it was just handbags, and they haven’t been in frequent trouble for this recently, I’d imagine the FA would actually have to pay Tottenham.
Watch now for a wholly disproportionate punishment – further proof of corruption!