After his man of the match display against Stoke, Manuel Lanzini has come down off cloud nine only to be slapped with a two-match ban for deceiving the match official in the win against Stoke on Saturday.
In the first half, Lanzini went down from a challenge from Erik Pieters which referee Graham Scott awarded a penalty for despite the protests of the Stoke defenders. Mark Noble slotted home the spot kick as the Hammers cruised to a 3-0 victory.
Twitter: BREAKING: West Ham’s Manuel Lanzini charged by FA for deceiving match official on Saturday. Incident reviewed by t… https://t.co/yx9bCc0ryZ (@skysports_bryan)
However, upon review from a three-person panel today, it has been decided that Lanzini deceived the referee by diving and has been charged.
The attacking midfield did appear to throw himself over Pieters’ challenge with minimal contact.
Lanzini put in his best performance of the season at Stoke, registering two assists in the second half as the Hammers picked up a vital win, but they could now be without the Argentine for the new couple of games.
He has until 6pm on Tuesday 19 December to respond to the charge. West Ham’s next game is away at Arsenal tomorrow evening in the Carabao Cup quarter-final.
