Nottingham Forest and West Ham United have been charged for failing to control their players in the final minutes of last Sunday’s Premier League clash.
The Reds clinched an important 2-1 victory over the Hammers courtesy of goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Nikola Milenkovic. Thanks to the three points picked up in the capital, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are still in the mix to secure Champions League qualification on the final day of the season.
Last weekend’s match lasted a remarkable 112 minutes and 55 seconds in total - the second-longest game of the season in the Premier League - due to a long period of stoppage time. A mass melee broke out towards the end of the game, and now both clubs have been charged by the Football Association.
A statement from the FA said: “West Ham United and Nottingham Forest have been charged in relation to the mass confrontation at their Premier League game on Sunday, 18 May. It’s alleged that both clubs failed to ensure their players didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative way around the 103rd minute. West Ham United and Nottingham Forest have to provide their responses by Friday, 23 May.”
The confrontation occurred deep into added time at the London Stadium. Reds defenders Murillo and Morato were booked, while Edson Alvarez and Carlos Soler were shown yellow cards for West Ham.
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The long period of stoppage time was in part due to the length of time it took to confirm whether Milenkovic’s second-half goal would stand. It took the officials six minutes to make that call, following a check for a potential offside.
Referee Sam Barrott had even made his way over to both managers to explain the delay over confirming the goal. Semi-automated offside technology was unavailable in that particular instance and there was a problem with the communication between VAR and the on-pitch officials.
Forest survived a late barrage of pressure from the hosts to claim the win. They now host Chelsea at the City Ground on Sunday (4pm kick-off) with the potential to confirm a top-five finish.
“Since the beginning of the season we wanted to be in this fight (for the Champions League). We achieved it," head coach Nuno said after beating the Hammers.
“If you had said in the beginning it would be possible, you would have said no. But we are in it and the last game at the City Ground is going to be huge for us. It is trying to achieve something magical.
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