West Ham playmaker Manuel Lanzini has been charged by the Football Association (FA) for diving during Saturday’s Premier League win at Stoke.
The Argentine fell to the ground as he was challenged by defender Erik Pieters and the Hammers were awarded a penalty, which put them 1-0 up in a 3-0 victory.
The incident was referred to an independent three-person FA panel who deemed he had deceived the referee.
Lanzini has until 18:00 GMT on Tuesday, 19 December to respond to the charge.
If the charge is upheld, he is set to get a two-match ban that would rule him out of Tuesday’s League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal and Premier League game at home against Newcastle on Saturday.
The FA panel includes one former match official, one ex-manager and one ex-player, and all three had to agree for a ban to be enforced.
Everton forward Oumar Niasse was the first Premier League player to be banned for diving after new FA laws to punish simulation were introduced in May.
He was banned for two games after winning a controversial penalty, under pressure from Scott Dann, in a draw at Crystal Palace on 18 November.
Graham Scott was the referee for West Ham’s win over Stoke, who were left in 17th place – one point above the relegation zone – after a third league defeat in a row.
“He’s clearly dived. He’s a clever player, he’ll draw a foul or some kind of challenge but he wasn’t clipped,” said Stoke boss Mark Hughes after the match.
“Referees need to get match-defining decisions correct and he certainly didn’t get that one correct.”
‘I see it being tiredness’
“I would call it soft,” said Hammers boss David Moyes.
“Manu has ran 70 yards and probably ran his race at the end of it. I think the defender going to ground means the referee has a choice to make.
“I don’t think there’s any intent regarding a dive. I think he’s riding the tackle more than anything.
“If you take the whole action into consideration, I definitely don’t see it being a dive. I see it being tiredness at the end of it but I don’t see a dive.”
