West Ham’s Taty Castellanos is being accused of spitting on the Millwall goalkeeper during the Dockers Derby.
West Ham and Millwall faced each other in their first Dockers Derby in 14 years at the Den. The match ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw after West Ham made a strong comeback in the second half, having been two goals down at halftime.
Besides West Ham’s amazing fightback, there has been a lot of talk about an incident where West Ham’s Taty Castellanos allegedly spat at Millwall’s goalkeeper, Filip Marschall.
Millwall went into the break leading 2-0 thanks to goals from Caleb Taylor and Camiel Neghli. West Ham then fought back, with Mohamadou Kante scoring in the 74th minute and Konstantinos Mavropanos leveling the game just six minutes later.
The match stayed intense until the end. West Ham even had a player sent off when Kante, after losing the ball, fouled Kyrell Lisbie to stop a clear goal chance.
One unfortunate moment happened in the second half when Marschall held the ball longer than usual while Millwall was still winning 2-0. Castellanos rushed towards him before he released the ball, leading to a heated moment between the players. Marschall seemed to point at his jersey, suggesting he was spat at, and Millwall’s staff reported this to the officials. Sky Sports shared that the referee and officials talked it over for a while because of this.
Fans watching online were shocked and upset about the spitting claim. Millwall’s manager, Alex Neil, confirmed the accusation after the game but said he hadn’t seen it himself. “I wouldn’t think Fil would say that without a reason,” he said, trusting the referees and authorities to handle it properly.
West Ham’s manager, Nuno Espírito Santo, didn’t want to comment, saying he hadn’t seen the incident and wanted to focus on the game itself, which he said was very intense for both teams and their fans.