After what had been a difficult international break with Ghana, getting sent off in a London derby was the last thing Mohammed Kudus needed.
Kudus had issued an apology statement after Ghana’s draw and defeat by Sudan left them with an uphill battle to qualify for next year’s African Cup of Nations.
Julen Lopetegui had said that West Ham would look after Kudus upon his return. When the forward opened the scoring against Tottenham after 18 minutes, it had looked as if he had put those national team troubles behind him.
But after West Ham had conceded three goals in eight minutes to go 4-1 down in the second half, Kudus saw red – literally and metaphorically.
The forward fouled Spurs defender Micky van de Ven and aimed two kicks at him while he was on the floor. As Van de Ven got up to confront him, Kudus then shoved him in the face.
Mohammed Kudus’ difficult week was made even worse as he was sent off in Saturday’s defeat against West Ham
Kudus had fouled Spurs defender Micky van de Ven (right) before getting up and pushing him in the face
Kudus had completely lost his head when he also put his hands in the face of Tottenham’s Pape Sarr (left)
A melee ensued and Kontantinos Mavropanos tried to restrain Kudus from doing further damage. But the forward, despite being held back, was still able to reach out two hands to push Pape Matar Sarr in the face.
It was an uncharacteristic head loss from a player who has not looked himself all season. There was talk of a coming together in the dressing room between Lopetegui and Kudus after the forward was taken off at half-time during the 1-1 draw with Brentford.
The incident was played down by Lopetegui, who claimed not to have seen his player’s outburst on the pitch at Tottenham, but admitted it is something he must learn from.
‘I did not see the action, Lopetegui said. ‘I am not going to say here what I am going to say to him. We need to talk, but today is not the day. I am sure he is going to be aware that he can improve his answer in this moment because it’s not good for him, it’s not good for the club, for the team.’
Kudus will be suspended for a minimum of three games but could face a longer ban according to former referee Mike Dean, who believes the FA should view the two violent altercations as separate incidents.
Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui (right) admitted that Kudus (left) must learn from his mistakes
He will not play for West Ham before the next international break, where Ghana face must-win games against Angola and Nigeria. If they do not go well, there is a risk Kudus could be even lower on confidence by the time he returns for the Hammers.
At the other end of the pitch, Lopetegui admitted he was concerned by his side’s second half collapse.
‘It is not a good thing to concede three goals in eight minutes. We are concerned about this. We have to keep the concentration in the moments we are suffering.
‘Because it’s going to happen again where we concede a goal at the start of the second half and we have to understand that despite this happening, we can’t get our heads down, we have to keep our mentality until the end. I assure you we are going to improve this.’
