Millwall goalkeeper alleges he was spat at by West Ham’s Taty Castellanos

Millwall goalkeeper Filip Marschall alleged that West Ham forward Taty Castellanos spat at him during the meeting of the London rivals at The Den on Saturday.

The incident came during the second half of the derby and as goalkeeper Marschall delayed releasing the ball from his hands while his side were leading 2-0.

The West Ham forward Taty looked to close Marschall down before he picked up the ball, before the players appeared to get involved in an altercation in the penalty area.

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Millwall goalkeeper Filip Marschall speaks with referee Paul Tierney during the match against West Ham (Getty)

Marschall then appeared to point towards his jersey, gesturing that he was spat at, while Sky Sports reported that the fourth official confirmed an allegation of spitting had been lodged by Millwall staff. TV footage of the incident was inconclusive.

Lions boss Alex Neil confirmed the allegation afterwards, saying: “I believe so. Fil was saying to the referee throughout the game when that happened, at that point.

“Obviously I’m so far away so it’s hard for me to see what happened, but I wouldn’t presume Fil would say that without cause, if you like, so I don’t know. I’m sure the referees and the authorities, whoever, will look at it and if it warrants that it needs dealt with, I’m sure they will.”

Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo said: “I didn’t see, so I’m not going to comment on any allegations. I didn’t see it. And that’s not what we should be speaking about [in] this game, this game has much to speak about, it was a very intense game for both fans.”

Millwall and West Ham were meeting for the first time in 14 years, following the Hammers’ relegation to the Championship, with a large-scale Metropolitan Police operation planned in east London.

Millwall dominated the first half at The Den and led the Championship leaders 2-0 when the flashpoint occurred.

Marschall had the ball in his hands when he was closed down by West Ham forward Taty. Confusingly, referee Paul Tierney then appeared to signal a corner after Marschall went over the eight seconds permitted to restart play.

West Ham quickly took the corner, with Taty crossing for fellow half-time substitute Pablo to finish into the empty net, but referee Tierney halted the play and summoned both captains to the penalty box and instead signalled for Marschall to restart play.

West Ham’s Taty Castellanos was accused of spitting at the Millwall goalkeeper (Getty)

Argentine forward Taty then closed down Marschall for a second time, with the goalkeeper delaying the restart before picking the ball up, which is when the alleged spitting incident reportedly took place.

Sky Sports reported that Marschall delayed releasing the ball because he claimed that Taty had spat at him, with the Millwall coaching staff reporting the allegations to the fourth official on the touchline.

The incident was also something of a turning point in a pulsating east London derby, with West Ham recovering from an awful start to salvage a 2-2 draw at The Den.

West Ham’s Mohamadou Kante pulled one back from 25 yards in the 74th minute before Konstantinos Mavropanos grabbed the equaliser in the 80th minute when he headed in a cross.

Kante was then sent off for pulling down Millwall’s Kyrell Lisbie when he was the last man and Lisbie was through on goal, but the 10 men of West Ham held on to claim a point.