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London police made three arrests for racially aggravated public order offences at the Carabao Cup semifinal first leg between London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea. The Metropolitan Police didn't specify which team the three supported, only saying arrests occurred at around 17.40 GMT. The force's football unit wrote on Twitter that the men were being "dealt with at a North London police station." Before the game at Wembley Stadium, the Met Police tweeted to say it was working with clubs "to ensure hate crime, including racism and anti-Semitic language, is tackled robustly. Any instances of such behavior will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated." Chelsea striker Eden Hazard implored supporters of both teams ahead of the tie to focus on enjoying the game, with anti-semitic and racially insensitive chants having marred recent matches in both England and Italy at the end of 2018. Hazard said: "Of course [I hope both fans respect each other]. These kind of fans [who sing abusive chants] are not fans of football, for me. They come to the stadium just to say something. I understand they want to win the game but they need to be fair. Just support their team and not [abuse] the other one." Tottenham went on to win the match 1-0 courtesy of a Harry Kane penalty. Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.
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