West Ham‘s 2-1 EFL Cup win over Chelsea on Wednesday night has been overshadowed by fan clashes inside the London Stadium towards the end of the contest.
Stewards and riot police were required to attend the trouble, which escalated towards the end of the fixture, amid suggestions of ongoing incidents throughout the match.
These eventually led to fighting between the fans as police moved to separate the two groups before moving the away supporters out of the stadium.
There were concerns prior to the game of possible fighting leading to a ban on the sale of alcohol from stalls and the segregation of supporters before and after the match.
However there were still many logistical issues, leading to the fighting, and West Ham have confirmed in a statement that any identified individuals will be given life-time bans.
There has been trouble between rival supporters at the London stadium before this season, with the Hammers’ move to the ground not going perfectly.
This has come up again as the east Londoners beat their local rivals 2-1 to go through to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.
Some fans have claimed that coins and chairs were thrown at the game, and this video has shown stewards struggling to keep the rival sets of supporters apart as the game went on behind them.
Cheikhou Kouyate and Edmilson Fernandes scored for West Ham as they beat Chelsea on Wednesday, with Gary Cahill scoring a consolation for the Blues in the final minute of action.
This has won Slaven Bilic’s side a game against Manchester United in the quarter finals, with the Red Devils coming out 1-0 victors against local rivals Manchester City on the same night.
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