Watch: Fan invades pitch, attempts ‘kung-fu kick’ on ex-Premier League star; teammate gets sent off for manhandling

A routine football outing erupted into chaos in the Turkish professional league aka the Süper Lig when Beşiktaş JK squared off against Ankaragucu on Sunday. A notorious fan invaded the match pitch and launched an all-out attack on former English Premier League (EPL) star Cenk Tosun after the match between Besiktas and Ankaragucu. For the unversed, Tosun spent four years at Everton from 2018 to 2022. The former Eintracht Frankfurt has plied his trade with Crystal Palace and Gaziantepspor before re-joining Beşiktaş in 2021.

Tempers flared when the referee decided to blow the whistle for full-time. Ankaragucu’s Marlon Xavier received his marching orders from the official at the final whistle. In the aftermath of the incident, one home supporter made a darting run toward the pitch. Expressing his displeasure in the wake of the much-debated decision, the fan had apparently targeted Besiktas midfielder Salih Ucan but it was Tosun, who copped the heavy blow on his back. The hostile supporter unleashed a ‘kung-fu kick’ before he was floored by the Besiktas players.

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According to the Sun, midfielder Josef de Souza slammed the supporter on the floor. Taking cognisance of the incident, the referee handed the Brazilian a red card for manhandling the pitch invader. Speaking about the shocking incident, Tosun claimed that the fan attack could have ended the career of the targeted player.

“We have to let them hit us and wait?”

“I took a step that got lucky. Maybe if I hadn’t taken that step, that kick would have reached Salih’s waist and his life as a footballer could have ended. I didn’t understand the red card given to Josef. There are so many police and security, how come the fans can come to us and intervene with a kick? How does it work? We have to let them hit us and wait? Without protecting? We get a red card when we protect ourselves,” he was quoted as saying.