West Ham’s Argentinian forward Taty Castellanos has been accused of spitting at Millwall’s former England U19 goalkeeper Filip Marschall at The Den
West Ham forward Taty Castellanos has been accused of spitting at Millwall goalkeeper Filip Marschall during a heated derby thriller.
The alleged incident took place in the second half, with Millwall 2-0 ahead at The Den at the time, before they blew that lead and ended up drawing 2-2 with the Hammers. Tensions were already running high in Saturday’s Dockers Derby – the first encounter between the South London outfit and their East End rivals since 2012.
And after Marschall gathered a loose ball inside his penalty area, the Argentina striker momentarily stood in front of the keeper. The Millwall shot-stopper, 23, alleged he had been spat upon by Castellanos, as he rushed towards the assistant referee, before using his jersey to wipe his head.
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Referee Paul Tierney halted proceedings to have words with Marschall and Millwall’s coaching team relayed the accusation to fourth official Lewis Smith.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the final whistle, Millwall boss Alex Neil said: “I wouldn’t presume Fil would say that without cause. I’m sure the referee and authorities will look at it a deal with it if it warrants it.”
When the match resumed, West Ham staged a remarkable fightback, reports the Mirror. The visitors swiftly levelled matters at 2-2 courtesy of strikes from Mohamadou Kante and Kostas Mavropanos.
Kante then got a red card in the 89th minute as he frantically halted a Millwall counter-attack.
The home side pressed for a decisive goal before their vociferous supporters, but both London outfits were forced to accept an entertaining stalemate in their first encounter since 2012.
Millwall seized the initiative within 16 minutes, as Caleb Taylor capitalised at the far post following two superb stops from West Ham keeper Mads Hermansen. Neil’s outfit extended their advantage in the third minute of first-half added time, with Camiel Neghli forcing the ball over the line.
Nuno Espirito Santo rang the changes at the interval, introducing Kante and Pablo to the action. The duo linked up to find the net on 74 minutes before West Ham drew level shortly afterwards.
Mavropanos notched his fourth strike of the campaign thanks to Manor Solomon’s delivery. Millwall were handed a boost when Kante – operating as the last defender – received his marching orders for bringing down Kyrell Lisbie, yet they couldn’t locate a decisive third strike.
The outcome puts West Ham in danger of losing their summit position to several rivals over the coming weekend. Millwall, meanwhile, head into the international hiatus sitting beyond the play-off spots.