Manchester United vs. West Ham Delayed After Red Devils' Bus Attacked by Fans
Tuesday's crucial match between Manchester United and West Ham United was delayed after West Ham supporters interfered with United's bus on the way to Upton Park and were seen hurling objects at the bus.
Kickoff was pushed back to 8:30 p.m. GMT, per Telegraph Football.
Red Devils winger Jesse Lingard recorded the incident from inside the team coach, as reposted by fan site ClickBait Expose:
"@BBCSporf heres the video of Lingardpic.twitter.com/vAa344J8lM
— ClickBait Expose (@ClickBaitExpose) May 10, 2016"
Saved a click
Martyn Macintyre of Forest Echo News shared video of the incident from outside of the coach (warning: video contains NSFW language):
"West Ham fans smashing the Manchester United team bus to pieces outside Upton Park. Vile. pic.twitter.com/iIbn5uxirw
— Martyn Macintyre (@MartynMacintyre) May 10, 2016"
"It wasn't nice," Wayne Rooney told Neil Johnston of BBC Sport. "The coach [bus] got smashed up, but we're here now, so have to prepare for the game."
Telegraph Football shared a different angle of the United bus being pelted with bottles:
Kiran Moodley of Channel 4 News shared video of police being called in to settle the scene:
Miguel Delaney of ESPN reported the roads near Upton Park were clogged for two hours before the originally scheduled kickoff at 7:45 p.m. GMT, and Bill Rice of BBC Radio Manchester reported that one police officer and one civilian sustained minor injuries during the ordeal, but no arrests were made.
West Ham released a statement regarding the incident, via their official website:
"We have already had thousands of tweets and emails from fans to say how proud they were to be a part of such a special evening in West Ham's history."
However, we are aware that there were some supporters outside the Boleyn Ground who didn't act in an appropriate way when the Manchester United team bus was damaged.
That was not acceptable and we will work with the police to identify those responsible and ban them for life.
"We will work closely with both clubs and the Metropolitan Police to fully investigate these matters," said the FA regarding the situation, per Henry Winter of the Times.
West Ham co-owner David Sullivan didn't have much sympathy for United, telling JJ Bull of the Daily Telegraph: "Manchester United should have got here at 4 p.m. They made the same mistake at Spurs. I'd make them kick off at 7:45—I think the police have been kind to them."
Matt Hughes of the Times disagreed with that sentiment:
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was also not pleased with the evening's developments, as he told Bull:
"The images tell everything. I have seen also the police were taping. It is also a lot of emotions for people but for us it is the second time in London we have to start later. It's better than last time because we have received our preparation time. It is not the first time I have seen that. It is not so nice. The way we have been received is not the proper way of course. That makes all the influence on the players and that is a pity.
"
It's not hard to see why emotions were high before this contest. West Ham started the day four points behind United for fifth place in the table and a spot in next year's UEFA Europa League.
That should make for an impassioned and potentially aggressive Upton Park during the match. It also means the club could be facing punishment from the Football Association for the actions of its supporters after the damage done to United's bus.
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