A teenager has been arrested after Groningen defender Jetro Willems was punched during a confrontation with supporters during the team’s home defeat to Heerenveen.

The former PSV and Eintracht Frankfurt defender, who joined Groningen in January, went over to supporters to try to cool tempers towards the end of the match in the Euroborg stadium.

TV pictures showed one fan lunging forward through the crowd to land a punch on Willems, prompting referee Serdar Gözübüyük to suspend the game for around 10 minutes. The player was not visibly hurt and played out the match.

Willems shrugged off the incident in a post-match interview. ‘I’m from Rotterdam-Zuid, I’ve been through a lot. I didn’t feel threatened,’ he said.

Police arrested the teenager suspected of throwing the punch as well as another supporter who ran onto the pitch shortly beforehand, which led to Willems going over to the fans.

The club’s managing director Woute Gudde condemned the behaviour of a section of supporters and said the punch had been thrown by a ‘brainless imbecile’. ‘We will sit down with Jetro on Monday morning to discuss whether to go to the police. My own opinion is very clear.’

Groningen’s third successive league defeat leaves them second bottom in the Eredivisie, six points from safety and just one point ahead of Cambuur Leeuwarden.