West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur really don’t like one another and what happened in the latest London derby proved it.
Whether it’s dodgy lasagnes, a star biting a player on his former team or court cases over spying scandals in a battle of a stadium, the rivalry between West Ham and Tottenham is a storied one.
There is simply no love lost between the Hammers and Spurs on the pitch, in the stands or the two boardrooms for that matter.
As far as this particular derby goes, there was little but saving face to play for at the London Stadium.
West Ham and Tottenham are enduring among their worst ever Premier League campaigns.
West Ham and Tottenham rivalry shows no signs of cooling
It looks likely to cost Spurs boss Ange Postocoglou at the end of the season, even if he leads them to Europa League glory.
Graham Potter has struggled since joining West Ham, picking up just three wins in his first 15 games ahead of Tottenham.
That record is now three in 16 after a drab 1-1 draw against Tottenham’s reserves – after Postecoglou made sweeping changes to rest players for their Europa League semi-final second leg.
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
West Ham were booed off at full-time.
Things got off to a typically dismal start for Potter’s Hammers against their big rivals.
Former Spurs target Max Kilman has come in for criticism for his performances of late having impressed for the most part since joining for £40m from Wolves last summer.
But Kilman he did himself – and his team – no favours when he inexplicably twice kicked the ball against Tottenham’s Mathys Tel when all he had to do was pass it back to the goalkeeper, hook it clear or kick it out for a harmless throw-in.
Gifted the ball on the edge of West Ham’s box, Tel had the easiest assist of his career, laying the ball on a plate for Wilson Odobert to slot home.
Thankfully, though, West Ham fought back – albeit against Tottenham’s second string – to equalise through captain Jarrod Bowen.
‘Who else’ as Bowen is often seen mouthing at West Ham fans when celebrating.
Spurs fans taunt West Ham and get a brutal response
This time as the Hammers talisman wheeled away in celebration, there was a crowd interaction of a different kind.
A journalist has shared what a West Ham star did to the Spurs fans after the Bowen goal in front of them at the London Stadium.
Tottenham fans had been goading West Ham with various chants.
‘You sold your soul for this s——-‘ being one, ‘1-0 in your cup final’ being another.
There was even a rendition of ‘you’re just a s— team in Millwall’ from the visiting Spurs supporters.
They had those chants rammed down their throats – quite literally – when Bowen equalised, nutmegging Guglielmo Vicario to round off a sweeping move.
That’s according to The Evening Standard reporter Dom Smith.
The journalist was at the London Stadium to cover the game and revealed a Hammers player smashed the ball into the Tottenham fans as it bounced out of Vicario’s net following Bowen’s leveller.
And he says the ball caught a Spurs fan flush in the face.
“To add injury to injury, after Jarrod Bowen scored that equaliser, a West Ham player booted the ball in celebration into the away end and it throttled a Spurs fan square in the face,” Smith revealed.
“Life comes at you fast sometimes.”
Hammers ace smashed ball at Spurs fans with unerring accuracy
Now clearly actually hitting the supporter in the face wasn’t intentional on the West Ham player’s part.
And it is important that the fan in question is ok.
But there’s no doubt the player in question wouldn’t have to buy a drink if he went out in east London tonight, even after such a dismal season!
Whether the authorities take a look at the incident remains to be seen. It would be hard to argue any intention behind it after all.
Providing the supporter is unharmed, even Tottenham fans would probably find the incident funny.
It may be worth keeping an eye out on Match of the Day 2’s Too Good, Too Bad segment for it.