Sunderland speak out on Granit Xhaka drama after West Ham match suspended | Football | Sport

Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris was reluctant to discuss the incident that saw the Black Cats’ Premier League clash with West Ham temporarily paused. Granit Xhaka, not in the match-day squad but situated behind the Sunderland substitutes’ bench at the London Stadium, became embroiled in a heated spat with a Hammers fan in the final minutes of the second half.

Xhaka missed out on captaining the north east club due to an ankle injury but still travelled to support his team-mates. But a supporter behind the dugout clearly angered Xhaka, whose confrontation with the man lasted several minutes. Referee Thomas Bramall eventually paused the game after being alerted to the incident by VAR as substitute Lutsharel Geertruida also got involved. Stewards eventually moved in to dissolve the situation.

Yet asked post-match what happened to trigger the verbal spat, Le Bris said: “The bench is too far from the sideline. I didn’t see what happened and haven’t spoken with anyone about it. We don’t want to think about the environment, we are thinking about us.

“The main point at the minute is that we are not at the level that can happen. It’s important to analyse and repeat, to learn, to work hard and to prepare for the next game. Nothing else.”

The French coach added to the BBC: “It’s always a shame when something like that happens, but I don’t know.”

While West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo reacted: “I was speaking with the referee. The referee mentioned that something happened, so we had to stop the game. I just asked him, how many minutes are you going to give? He said, ‘no, no!’ But I don’t know what happened, I hope it’s all okay.”

Xhaka has yet to address the matter. But he wrote on Instagram: “Not on the pitch today, but always with the team. Trust the boys. I’ll be back soon. #GX34.”

Sunderland lost 3-1 to drop to 10th in the Premier League table. West Ham raced into a three-goal lead by half time thanks to strikes from Crysencio Summerville, Jarrod Bowen from the penalty spot and Mateus Fernandes.

Brian Brobbey got the Black Cats on the scoresheet 66 minutes in but the Hammers ultimately ran out deserving victors. Le Bris added that skipper Xhaka is facing a fortnight out, meaning he will miss the visit of Burnley to the Stadium of Light on Monday, February 2.

The Swiss midfielder is also now a doubt to return to former club Arsenal on February 7. The 33-year-old also captained the Gunners and made 297 appearances for them between 2016 and 2023.

Le Bris said: “I don’t know the time frame yet, we’ll see. We’ll have at least two weeks of rest and then we’ll assess this injury, an ankle injury. He’s important for the squad, but it’s not an excuse.

“It’s not possible to think like that. We have a good squad. They have to experience different situations. It’s uncomfortable, but I think we can learn more from a difficult period like that rather than sometimes a sequence of wins.”