Eric Dier jumps into the crowd to FIGHT a Tottenham fan who was shouting insults at him with Spurs star’s family nearby after they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Norwich on penalties
- Eric Dier went into the crowd to confront a Tottenham fan on Wednesday night
- The Spurs midfielder reacted angrily to a comment and went to confront the fan
- Stadium security had to restrain the midfielder as he made his way into the stand
- It appeared that Dier chose to go into the crowd to defend his younger brother
Eric Dier sensationally jumped into the crowd to confront one of his own supporters who he accused of abusing him after Tottenham were knocked out of the FA Cup.
Dier clambered over rows of seats and high into the stands to confront a supporter as tensions spilled over following Spurs’s fifth round penalty shootout defeat as they blew their best hope of winning a trophy this season.
He is facing an FA charge in an extraordinary incident which overshadowed their FA Cup exit against Norwich.
Eric Dier climbed into the crowd to angrily confront a Tottenham fan after a defeat to Norwich
The Tottenham midfielder was left incensed with one fan and he went to go and confront him
Stadium security looked to diffuse the situation in the lower west stand at the end of the game
Dier was heading for the tunnel until he spotted his relative arguing and clambered over rows of seats and stormed high into the crowd to wade in as tensions spilled over after Spurs crashed out on penalties, blowing their best hope of winning a trophy this season.
The midfielder was heard on camera footage taken by one supporter near the incident shouting ‘he’s my brother, he’s my brother’ before he was ushered away from the flashpoint and through a door at the back of the stands by bystanders, including other fans and stewards.
Dier’s brother was invited into the dressing room following the clash and the club are working to identify the fan – who ran off – that was singled out for abuse by Dier.
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho said: ‘This person insulted Eric, the family was there, the young brother was not happy with the situation then Eric did what we professionals cannot do but we probably would do.
Social media saw a photo emerge of Dier climbing over rows of empty seats to get to the fan
Dier was held back by club security as he looked to get to the fan that had left him incensed
‘When somebody insults you and your family is there and they get involved with the person insulting him I think Eric Dier did what we professionals cannot do but probably what everyone of us would do.
‘The supporters that are in this privileged position, in this area of the tunnel, of course some are Tottenham fans but also a lot of corporate [fans], invitations and people with special status.
‘It is probably the place in the stadium I sometimes have doubts if they are real Tottenham fans because these ones were the ones who supported the boys.’
Initially there were suggestions Dier stepped in after team-mate Gedson Fernandes, who had his decisive spot-kick saved, was racially abused.
Mourinho said: ‘I don’t know [about that]. I know just that the reaction of Eric was based on his brother not liking what was happening there.’
Asked if the club will discipline Dier following the incident, which evoked memories of Eric Cantona’s clash with a supporter at Crystal Palace in January 1995, Mourinho said: ‘If the club does that I would not agree but he did wrong.’
Dier’s manager, Jose Mourinho, said he would not agree if the player was punished by the club
The altercation, which occurred in the lower west stand where players’ families sit, saw the 26-year-old angrily confront one fan he had taken issue with and he had to be restrained by stadium security.
The incident quickly gained attention on social media as fans were left in disbelief to see the midfielder walk off the pitch and climb over the advertising boards and into the stand.
After Fernandes had seen the decisive kick saved by Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul, Dier made the decision to turn and head for a portion of the home crowd.
He approached the edge of the pitch before climbing over the advertising hoarding until he was in the first row of the lower west stand.
The crowd separated and Dier was not to be deterred as he climbed purposefully up the empty rows until he got to the fan that he accused of abuse.
Penalty expert Krul saved two Spurs penalties from Troy Parrott and Fernandes to help Norwich reach the last eight for the first time in 28 years. They will host either Derby or Manchester United in the quarter finals.
Tim Krul was the hero of the shoot-out for Norwich after he saved two Tottenham penalties
Dutchman Krul, who was memorably brought on in the 2014 World Cup quarter-finals by Louis Van Gaal just for the penalty shootout and had Spurs’s takers written on his water bottle, said: ‘As a little boy you want to save penalties and get your club through. Big emotions today.
‘Everyone says I am good at penalties so I knew I’d better start saving some. Me and my coach do our homework, I had them on my bottle, it all happens in a shootout.
‘What a place to do it as well and for 9,000 fans to be here on a Wednesday night.’
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