'See you outside!' - West Ham fan reveals cause of heated argument with Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka and midfielder's response to verbal confrontation

Just under a week after their dramatic late win at Tottenham, West Ham breathed new life into their bid to stave off relegation to the Championship with a convincing victory against Sunderland. They are now just two points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest after looking dead and buried just a week ago. Following the victory, West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo was full of praise for his players, who raced into a 3-0 lead, before conceding late on.

He told BBC Match of the Day: "We played good, I'm always positive that things can improve, but clearly the connections, combinations, knowledge of each other as players are starting to happen. Things we are doing on the training ground are starting to be reflected on the pitch, and for me that is a joy. The mental side [is important]. We have to keep the momentum, we came from a good win. It was important to start the game this way with the same energy. The boys did it, we had a very good first half. We improved a lot in terms of managing the game, the tempo in the second half, knowing that Sunderland would react. We defended well, managed the time well, the possession, try to keep some threat in our attack. Overall, it was a good performance. The fans are giving back what we are asking, they support, sing, and today I think they are happy."

In the second half, when West Ham were cruising to victory, it appears Xhaka clapped back at some taunts from home supporters. While Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris said he didn't know what happened, although he did admit it was a "shame" that things played out the way they did, one Hammers fan has opened up on their side of the story.

An unnamed West Ham supporter told The Sun: "Another guy came [towards the dugout] to calm it down. Then Xhaka started picking on him – he wasn’t doing anything, he’s just saying ‘stop, stop’ to Xhaka. And then Xhaka started calling him out saying, ‘I’ll see you outside, I’ll see you outside.’ Then as he was heading down the tunnel after the game finished he was still going to the guy, ‘I’ll see you outside’. It was all Xhaka, complete head loss. The geezer’s on 100 grand a week getting rattled by absolute nobodies, just giving it the big ‘un. It was all on him."

West Ham were worthy winners at home but Nuno did admit that Xhaka's absence, which was down to an ankle injury, helped the east London outfit. 

He added: "Xhaka is an important player for Sunderland, his absence favoured us. But that doesn't take away from the quality of their squad, that's why they are where they are and they play good football. We controlled well, Tomas [Soucek] and Mateus [Fernandes] did very hard work."

Le Bris made no excuses for his side's loss, saying that West Ham were deserved winners. He also provided an update on Xhaka's injury.

He said: "They were better than us, they showed good quality, they started better, more aggressiveness and more composure with the ball. We were the opposite. The balance went in their favour at the beginning and they scored, it was well deserved. Our reaction in the second half was a bit better, we tried to change the dynamic of the game. We scored once, we have the opportunity to score the second but they were simply better than us. We have to accept it.

"It's [an] ankle injury, he [Xhaka] has a period of rest and see how long he will be."

West Ham will hope to make it three wins in a row next Saturday away to London rivals Chelsea, whereas 10th-placed Sunderland host fellow promoted side and relegation-threatened Burnley on 2 February.