Sky Sports reporter Gary Cotterill shocked by never-before-seen incident in West Ham United v Olympiacos
Gary Cotterill was left amazed by something he had never seen before during the Europa League match between West Ham and Olympiacos.
The Sky Sports reporter was in attendance for Thursday’s (9 November) group-stage tie at the London Stadium.
Cotterill shared a bizarre incident he spotted off camera in an update on the broadcaster’s live blog of the match [9 November, 21:12].
“Never seen that before,” he said. “The start of the second half was almost held up by the Olympiacos goalkeeping coach doing last minute shooting practice with Alexandros Paschalakis.
“The referee had to blow his whistle and order him off the field before getting things underway. All the other 21 players watching on!”
Strange
Firstly, quite why Paschalakis felt the need to go through additional goalkeeping drills after West Ham’s first-half performance remains to be seen.
The 34-year-old had plenty of time between the players emerging from the tunnel and the referee getting everyone set for the whistle blowing to get himself ready.
As well all know, though, goalkeepers are a different breed to their outfield colleagues and simply do things by their own rules.
In the end, no harm was done as the referee ushered the coach off the field and the second half was able to belatedly get under way.
The biggest surprise as the players reconvened for the start of the second half in East London was the lack of changes made by David Moyes.
West Ham ultimately got the job done on home soil, however, with Paschalakis beaten by a Lucas Paqueta strike in the final quarter of the game.
In other West Ham news, a TNT Sports commentator slammed a United player for something “stupid” he did against Olympiacos.