Neal Maupay rowed with with Kevin Nolan as Brentford and West Ham returned for the second half of their Premier League match on Monday because the Frenchman had been “outside the referee’s room” during the break, Gary Neville has said.
Notoriously provocative Bees forward Maupay was shown being kept apart from Hammers coach Nolan in an exchange between the pair as the sides made their way to the pitch at the London Stadium.
“The Brentford striker – apparently, we believe – was outside the referee’s room,” said Neville, who was on analyst duty for Sky Sports.
“And Nolan has taken offence to it. Doesn’t look like it’s calmed down yet, either.”
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West Ham raced into a seventh-minute 2-0 lead through two goals in three minutes from Jarrod Bowen.
But Maupay struck six minutes later to give his side hope with what proved to be the final goal of an entertaining first half.
Things got a little heated at half-time between Neal Maupay and Kevin Nolan ???? pic.twitter.com/S39Z6uTAKt
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 26, 2024
Brentford’s Maupay ‘not crazy’
In a Times interview earlier this month which dubbed him the “wind-up king”, Maupay discussed his recent on-pitch confrontations with Tottenham playmaker James Maddison and Manchester City defender Kyle Walker.
The incidents were far from the first of their kind of Maupay’s career, and the former Everton player also revisited how he received death threats after a controversial encounter with Arsenal while he was at Brighton & Hove Albion.
“You could be the nicest player in the world and people would still find a way to hate on you, so I’m just going to keep being me,” Maupay told the newspaper.
“Six years ago, in the Championship, I was doing the same thing, but because these are big stars, big teams, everyone is talking about it.
“But it goes both ways. The defenders can be cheeky with it as well. I’m not a crazy guy.”
A combative midfielder during his playing career, Nolan was fined £100,000 by West Ham – two weeks’ wages – for his second sending off in a four-day spell in 2021.
