West Ham win over Chelsea marred by violence

West Ham 2 Chelsea 1

West Ham's win over Chelsea in the EFL Cup was overshadowed by another outbreak of violence inside the former Olympic Stadium as fans hurled bottles, chairs and coins during scuffles before and after the final whistle.

Riot police, on duty inside the ground for the first time this season, made seven arrests on what The Times calls "another hugely depressing night for an arena that once seemed to represent the best of sport and British partisanship".

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

On the field, there was much to cheer for the Hammers, who beat local rivals Chelsea 2-1 thanks to goals from Cheikhou Kouyate and Edimilson Fernandes either side of half time. But by the time Gary Cahill scored Chelsea's consolation in added time, the focus was firmly on the stands, where rival fans were throwing punches and missiles.

Trouble has broken out at several matches since West Ham moved into the stadium at the start of the season, but special measures were in place for the first derby at their new home.

"Police had been in attendance for the first time this season inside the London Stadium and, together with both clubs and the stadium operator, there will now be a review of how trouble still flared up even after weeks of planning for what was always regarded as a high-risk fixture," says the Daily Telegraph.

Even before kick-off there were "simmering tensions as scuffles broke out between supporters outside the turnstiles", says the Daily Mail. The evening "ended with damning images of West Ham and Chelsea fans having to be separated by riot police".

Questions will now be asked about "the capacity of the former Olympic venue to host safe and peaceful football matches", says the Times.

It adds: "This was an evening that laid bare the uneasy compromise of installing a football team in the 60,000-seat spiritual home of London 2012... Was this really the stadium of Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah? Those days felt almost like a mirage on a night when the wholesome patriotism of the Olympic fortnight was replaced with a rather more ugly strain of fandom."

The trouble turned "a magnificent night on the pitch for Slaven Bilic's resurgent side into a PR disaster", says The Guardian.

"West Ham should ask themselves why their first derby under lights did not take place in front of a sell-out crowd. Quite simply, it was the consequence of the shortcomings in security in previous matches. People will stay away if they do not feel safe."