Mark Noble: West Ham midfielder to face no action after carrying Manchester United's injured Ander Herrera
The 28-year-old midfielder decided to take the matters into his own hands – quite literally
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Your support makes all the difference.West Ham United midfielder Mark Noble will not be punished for carrying Manchester United's Ander Herrera off the field during Wednesday's FA Cup quarter-final replay.
The 28-year-old has been a popular figure at Upton Park for over a decade now but rarely has he been admired as much by his supporters as in the 76th minute of the 2-1 defeat to Louis van Gaal's side.
Noble decided to take the matters into his own hands – quite literally – when he believed Ander Herrera was time-wasting.
With the score at 2-0 to the visitors, Herrera fell to floor injured after fouling Michail Antonio. The Spanish midfielder had only just received a yellow card a few minutes earlier and the home crowd were baying for referee Roger East to give him his marching orders.
It soon emerged that Herrera was to leave the field, but only as a substitute, as the injury to his right foot would make it difficult for him to continue. Noble, frustrated at the amount of time it was taking for Herrera to leave the pitch, picked his opposite number up and carried him over the touchline.
The club captain’s no-nonsense approach was well-received by the majority of the Upton Park crowd but United’s medical team, understandably, were annoyed that a player with a delicate and potentially serious injury could be manhandled in such a way.
The Football Association have viewed the incident as non-aggressive.
Herrera, by contrast, did not show much resistance and effectively allowed Noble to eject him from the field of play.
Minutes later, West Ham pulled a goal back through the head of James Tomkins but Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini’s earlier strikes ultimately saw Van Gaal’s side through.
United will play Everton at Wembley on Saturday 23 April in the first of this year's semi-finals.
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