Ex-QPR player fights with fans in the stands in cup defeat

Footage has gone viral on social media, which shows one ex-QPR player fights with fans in the stands in a cup defeat on Monday night.

Yes, stadiums up and down Germany are allowed to re-open to thousands of supporters, however at one ground, it’s fair to say it got rather heated.

Hamburg star Toni Leistner was filmed entering the crowd to brawl with a few of the opposition fans after his side lost a cup game.

He had stopped his post-match interview, on the Bundesliga side’s humiliating 4-1 defeat to third-division side Dynamo Dresden in the DFB-Pokal.

Not only did he handle the ball in the penalty box, which led to Sebastian Mai scoring, but he also ended up conceding four goals to his former side as they cruised to victory.

It was a match made even more sour for Leistner as his former fans were allowed back in the ground, only to see him mocked.

Various videos has emerged of the 30-year-old boiling over with anger, as he can be seen climbing up the stairs of the Rudolf Harbin Stadium.

Listener goes up to a supporter wearing cream shorts and a red shirt along with a mask.

He furiously grabs the fan by the collar and shoves him to ground, with others looking on in shock at whether were witnessing.

One other fan goes on to shove the Hamburg player away before more angry fans follow.

Unbelievable scenes as Hamburg were knocked out by Dresden in the Cup pic.twitter.com/TWtXEM7NxI

— Andrew Cesare (@AndrewCesare) September 14, 2020

After stewards got involved, Leistner could only make his way back down the steps of the stands and back onto the pitch, before going back down the tunnel and to the changing rooms.

This clip gained more than 250,000 views on Twitter within an hour of being published.

Speaking in the post-match press conference, Hamburg coach Daniel Thioune said: ”I did not see it. I only saw that Toni Leistner returned from the stands.

“Something must have happened before. But I can’t say anything about it right now. I have not seen any pictures and don’t know what led to it.

“What I can add is that Toni Leistner has his heart in the right place and is always welcome in Dresden. Emotions are part of football.”

Dresden only needed three minutes to take the lead, with Yannick Stark half-volleying inside the penalty box.

Their lead was doubled 13 minutes later as Robin Becker drove up the pitch from a high defensive line to smash it past Heuer Fernandes.

The third-division side had their third on 53 minutes as Christoph Deferner hit an incredible 25-yard shot into the back of the net.

Leistner revealed on Instagram why he reacted in the way he did, and said he was provoked b verbal taunts from those in the crowd.

“After the match in my hometown, I was verbally abused from the stands. I can usually cope with it. But this was extremely and massively below the belt, against my family, my wife and my daughter.

“That’s when I lost it, even more so because it was already an extremely emotional match for me. Regardless, this should have never happened to me. I am a father who wants to serve as a role model. I apologise in all forms and can only promise that — no matter what insults are thrown my way — this will never happen again.”

After the match, Dresden condemned the fans responsible in the incident, and promised to investigate what caused Leistner’s reaction.

“Disgraceful post-match insults against Toni Leistner from a fan of his hometown club,” the team said in a statement. “We are looking for that person because we will not let this incident stand like that. We’d like to thank 99.9 percent of those attending the match today for their support.”

It was two weeks ago that the German defender had his contract terminated at QPR by mutual consent with immediate effect.

Leistner joined the EFL Championship side from Union Berlin in the summer of 2018 under Steve McClaren and was named captain of the side.

In January this year he was loaned to FC Koln where he stayed for the remainder of the 2019/20 campaign.

During his time with QPR, Leistner made 71 appearances, scoring two goals.

The club thanked Toni for his services and wished him every success in the future.