Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka was involved in a furious altercation with a fan during the latter stages of his side's 3-1 Premier League defeat to West Ham.
West Ham went 3-0 ahead in the first half at the London Stadium through goals from Crysencio Summerville, Jarrod Bowen and Mateus Fernandes.
Sunderland replied through Brian Brobbey on 66 minutes but missed out on the opportunity to claim as high as fifth place in the Premier League table.
Xhaka, who has been one of the Black Cats' key players this season, missed out on the West Ham clash through injury.
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The Switzerland international did travel with the rest of the squad, however, and spent the match watching from behind the dugout in the stands.
Towards the end of the match, however, Xhaka had a furious verbal confrontation with a fan who was sat in the second tier of the stand.
The unrest was spotted by the match officials, with referee Thomas Bramall briefly stopping West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola from taking a free-kick until the incident was cleared up.
Play did resume around 20 seconds later, but the altercation between Xhaka and the fan continued even after full-time.
Several stewards had by then entered the section of the stand, with the Sunderland captain appearing to wildly gesticulate towards a man carrying a young child.
The man could be seen performing an expletive hand gesture towards Xhaka, before laughing at him.
In terms of the football, the 3-1 win for West Ham is their second consecutive Premier League win under Nuno Espirito Santo.
The Hammers are now two points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, who take on Brentford on Sunday.
West Ham have not been relegated from the Premier League since 2011, but there has been growing unrest among fans surrounding the perceived lack of investment and general attitude towards the football club from majority owner David Sullivan.
Topics: Granit Xhaka, Sunderland, Football, Premier League, West Ham
Ryan Smart