A massive brawl erupted at the London Stadium during Arsenal’s victory over West Ham on Saturday. The Gunners quickly established a 4-0 lead before the Hammers retaliated with two swift goals.
Bukayo Saka’s penalty concluded an intense first half. The second half was less eventful, with no further goals scored.
However, the match was overshadowed by a significant fight in the West Ham end after their team conceded four goals. Video footage from the home end reveals a group of fans engaged in a heated dispute.
One man appears to throw a punch at another, who retaliates. He is then restrained by other spectators as the initial aggressor falls to the ground.
Another individual attempts to strike the man from behind as he is held back. Stewards promptly intervened and cleared the area, reports the Mirror.
Spectators can be heard remarking that the instigator seemed to have been “knocked out”. The cause of the brawl remains uncertain, and West Ham has condemned the individuals involved.
A spokesperson for the Hammers told The Sun: “The club is aware of the incident and will be working to identify the offender(s).”
West Ham have reiterated their commitment to a zero-tolerance policy on misconduct, stating: “In line with our zero-tolerance approach, anyone identified will have their details passed to the police and will be given an indefinite ban and therefore be unable to enter London Stadium and travel with the club. There is no place for this kind of behaviour at our Stadium.”
Meanwhile, West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui expressed his disappointment over the day’s events, particularly criticising refereeing decisions during the match.
Speaking to Match of the Day, Lopetegui said: “Overall, I am frustrated in the first half. We deserved two goals, but they didn’t deserve five. We were unlucky in the decisions, in my opinion. The first goal I think it was a block,” and added, “We have to do better for sure. We didn’t take good decisions in a defensive way – that’s why it was a strange match. The team showed character to compete. We were unlucky with the decisions today.”
He also mentioned the challenges of not being able to directly influence the game from the sidelines, saying: “We asked before the match, the referee with the block, as a coach we have to know the limit. This week we have to do better in our individual actions in a defensive way. It is always difficult to not stay on the bench because you can’t help the team and I was very frustrated.”
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