Four police officers injured and 13 arrests made after crowd trouble at West Ham v Anderlecht clash

14 October 2022, 16:29

The Met have confirmed four police officers were injured, with two needing hospital treatment, after crowd trouble at West Ham's London Stadium during a Europa Conference League match yesterday.

West Ham bagged qualification for the knockout stages with a 2-1 victory over Anderlecht side, but the win was tarnished by fan disorder towards the end of the game.

Riot police intervene after sections of the home support were targeted with objects thrown from the away end, including seats and flares.

It's expected UEFA will launch a formal probe into the unsavoury scenes, which also saw a fan being apprehended after running onto the pitch.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police said: "Four officers were injured, two requiring hospital treatment, after disorder at the London Stadium during the match between West Ham and Anderlecht.

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"One of the officers has a suspected broken wrist and the second received stitches for a head injury. The two other officers were struck on the head during the disorder.

"Chairs and flares were thrown from within the away section and officers had to intervene in protective equipment to restore calm.

"One man was arrested for the assault on the officer who suffered a suspected broken wrist. 12 people were arrested for other offences unrelated to the assaults on officers."

After the game, West Ham boss David Moyes was reluctant to speak about the off-pitch incidents. He said: “I saw some movement but I didn’t have any interest in it to be honest.

"Why would we want to draw attention to it? The players’ job was to get on with it and I thought they did.

"It’s not what any clubs want connected to them and I certainly don’t want it at West Ham.”

Anderlecht boss Felice Mazzu claimed he didn't see flares, but the Belgian club condemned the scenes after the match and apologised to West Ham.

In a statement released soon after the fixture, an Anderlecht spokesperson said: “We do not tolerate that behaviour in our stadium or away and we will take it up with the fans and UEFA. We apologise to West Ham.”