Ex-Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka was labelled a ‘b***h’ by Fulham’s Joachim Andersen following an ill-tempered clash between Denmark and Switzerland.
Andersen starred in Denmark’s 2-0 Nations League victory on Thursday evening thanks to goals from Patrick Dorgu and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
The match didn’t pass without incident with referee Daniel Siebert brandishing nine yellow cards while Switzerland finished the match with nine men after Xhaka and Nico Elvedi were dismissed.
Xhaka’s first booking came in the final 10 minutes and moments after Dorgu’s opener.
The Bayer Leverkusen star argued the ball should have been put out of play after a foul on Breel Embolo but his protests fell on deaf ears and was booked for his troubles.
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It took just five further minutes for Xhaka to be given his marching orders following an overzealous challenge on former Spurs star Hojbjerg.
Andersen was far from impressed by Xhaka’s conduct during the closing stages, claiming he had ‘lost his head’ over the decision to play on whilst Embolo was down injured.
“He is a top footballer, but he is also a bit of a b***h,” Anderson was quoted as saying by Tipsbladet.
“We know Granit, and he can go to it once in a while and get a little angry on the pitch. That’s the way it is. He is a player I have a lot of respect for, and sometimes you can lose your head.
“I think he has been good at keeping calm for many years, but today he lost his head a little.”
Andersen continued: “There is no reason to kick the ball out. The rules are that you kick the ball out if it’s a head injury, and it wasn’t. I’m 100 percent sure that they wouldn’t have kicked the ball out either, if it was the other way around.”
It’ not the first time Andersen has become embroiled in a on-field head-loss moment.
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His clash with Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez in 2022, saw the Uruguayan dismissed for a headbutt after reacting to Andersen’s provocation.
The Dane came in for criticism from then Reds boss Jurgen Klopp and later admitted he had received around 4,000 abusive messages on Instagram.
Describing the fracas with Nunes, Andersen told Viaplay: “The whole game I sat really close to him, I annoyed him a lot and did well against him. I think that’s why he was a little bit angry with me.
“In that situation, he headbutted me, the first one, at a cross, and I told him he shouldn’t do that.
“I was angry with him. Then he did it again which is, for me, really stupid. A clear red card.”
Meanwhile, there was plenty of home interest during Thursday’s clash in Copenhagen with Andersen among seven Premier League-based stars on show.
Manchester United’s Christian Eriksen featured with Jannik Vestergaard and Victor Kristiansen of Leicester City also present for the Danes.
Brentford duo Mikkel Damsgaard and Christian Norgaard were introduced as second-half substitutes while Manchester City’s Manuel Akanji featured for the visitors.
Asked about the on-field tensions, Red Devils star Eriksen said: “There was a bit of unrest on the pitch, I think.
“It’s a bit different when you’re standing out there. But a lot of things happened that I don’t think belong in football, with a lot of late tackles and things like that.
“I also know why it comes, but it was difficult to watch from the outside.”