(CNN) -- English football's battle against racism took an unexpected turn on Saturday as police announced an investigation into an alleged altercation between a Serbian player and an opposition fan at a Premier League match.
Manchester City's Aleksandar Kolarov reportedly clashed with a supporter who was waving an Albanian flag during the game at Newcastle.
"Northumbria Police has received a report of racist language having been used at the St James' Park stadium during the Newcastle United vs. Manchester City match today," the police said in a statement.
"Northumbria Police takes such allegations extremely seriously and enquiries are ongoing into the incident."
Read: IFA chief urges stronger action in Serbian racism case
Serbia international Kolarov was born in the capital Belgrade. His country has long been in dispute with Albania over the Kosovo region, where war broke out in 1998.
This image of a bloodied and defiant Rio Ferdinand has been at the forefront of a perceived return of hooliganism in English football, following crowd trouble at the Manchester derby.
A new 'dark age' for English football?
Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart of confronts a pitch invader at the end of his side's 3-2 derby defeat by Manchester United, whose defender Rio Ferdinand (at back) was left with a bloody face after being hit by a coin thrown from the crowd.
United edge fiery Manchester derby
England midfielder Danny Rose claims he was subjected to monkey chants before, during and after the second-leg of their Under-21 Euro 2013 playoff match against Serbia on Tuesday, and had stones thrown at him by the crowd in Krusevac. Fans also ran on to the pitch and scuffles broke out after a 1-0 win secured England qualification for Euro 2013.
Soccer racism in Eastern Europe
It is now nearly a year since Chelsea lost to QPR 1-0 in an English Premier League game at Loftus Road. During the game it was alleged QPR defender Anton Ferdinand swore at John Terry and made reference to the Chelsea captain's reported affair with the ex-partner of former team-mate Wayne Bridge. Terry is then said to have described Ferdinand as a "f***ing black c***".
Crime and Punishment in sport
The defender was warming up on the sidelines before coming on as a first-half substitute when the argument occurred, according to the UK Press Association.
Neither club was prepared to comment on Saturday, the Press Association reported. Manchester City did not immediately respond to CNN's request for a statement.
It was the second match in a row involving City where non-footballing controversy has overshadowed on-pitch action.
Read: New 'dark age' for English football - or a new dawn?
Last weekend's Manchester derby was marred by a coin attack on United player Rio Ferdinand, a pitch invasion by a supporter and arrests of other fans for alleged racist abuse.
The Kolarov incident came two days after Serbia was fined $105,000 by UEFA following complaints of racial abuse from England players during an Under-21 match in October.
It is the latest in a series of racism controversies going back more than a year, involving top players such as Chelsea's former England captain John Terry and Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. Referee Mark Clattenburg was accused of racially abusing a Chelsea player in October before being cleared.
City bounced back from Sunday's 3-2 home defeat to beat Newcastle 3-1 and keep the pressure on leading club Manchester United.
Striker Sergio Aguero and midfielder Javi Garcia put City 2-0 ahead before Demba Ba reduced the deficit with his 11th league goal this season, then Yaya Toure wrapped it up from Kolarov's cross.
Kolarov did not complete the match, being substituted with 18 minutes to play.
Manchester United stayed six points clear of Roberto Mancini's second-placed defending champions, beating Sunderland 3-1.
Robin van Persie returned to the top of the scoring charts with his 12th EPL goal and 15th overall since signing from Arsenal in August, while midfielder Tom Cleverley made it 2-0 in the 19th minute and Wayne Rooney followed up his double against City with his seventh in the league in the second half.
Struggling Sunderland rallied with a 72nd-minute goal from former United striker Frazier Campbell, but Alex Ferguson's team held on to guarantee they will be top of the table come Christmas -- and the title has gone to the team in that position for the past three seasons.
It was an eventful day in the Premier League as Queens Park Rangers moved off the bottom with the club's first win in 17 games, winning 2-1 at home to London rivals Fulham to extend new manager Harry Redknapp's unbeaten run to four matches.
Both goals came from Morocco midfielder Adel Taarabt, who was sold to QPR by Redknapp in 2010 when he was boss of Tottenham.
Fourth-placed Everton drew 1-1 at Stoke, but may lose eight-goal midfielder Marouane Fellaini to suspension if the Belgian is punished for a headbutt that the match official did not see.
"We will take the punishment if it is given for it," Everton manager David Moyes said.
"I have told him in the dressing room that it is not acceptable -- I won't accept it as a manager that he does that."
Norwich moved up to seventh with a 2-1 win at home to third-bottom Wigan.
Aston Villa moved away from the relegation zone with a 3-1 win at Liverpool as Belgium international Christian Benteke scored twice, with the other goal coming from fellow young striker Andreas Weimann.
Captain Steven Gerrard scored a late consolation as Liverpool's three-match winning run ended, leaving Brendan Rogers' team 12th -- five points behind Merseyside rivals Everton.
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Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart confronts a pitch invader trying to harass Manchester United's Ferdinand, who had been hit in the face by a coin thrown from the crowd.
United's players celebrate Robin Van Persie's decisive late goal in a 3-2 victory -- which was met by missiles and smoke bombs hurled by City supporters.
A total of 13 fans were arrested and nine charged -- one with making alleged racist chants. Here a City supporter shouts across the police security cordon.
Ferdinand, left, wore a t-shirt supporting the anti-racism group Kick It Out in October, having earlier refused to do so in protest at a perceived leniency in punishment for John Terry, who was accused of racially abusing the United player's younger brother Anton. Kick It Out chairman Herman Ouseley has also criticized the English FA and the Premier League for failing to take strong action in recent high-profile racism cases.
The day before the Manchester derby, a man was arrested and charged for racially abusing Norwich's Cameroon international Sebastien Bassong in a Premier League match at Swansea. Norwich later revealed that police are investigating four separate racist attacks on Bassong.
Clarke Carlisle is the chairman of the English players' union. He has called for the FA to take its chance to address problems that have been ignored for years. "Previously there were behaviors that we have just passed off as 'Ah, that's football,' " he told CNN.
Police intervened to eject the invader, and the Greater Manchester force also announced after the match that another man was arrested inside City's Etihad Stadium on suspicion of chanting racist abuse.
The match was settled in the second minute of time added on by Manchester United's Dutch striker Robin Van Persie.
Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri (left) diverted Van Persie's free kick past Hart as he backed off from his position in the defensive wall.
Wayne Rooney had put United 2-0 ahead inside half an hour, with the 27-year-old becoming the youngest player to score 150 goals in the English Premier League.
United should have gone 3-0 ahead just before the hour mark but Ashley Young's effort was ruled out in a marginal offside decision. City hit back immediately through midfielder Yaya Toure.
Pablo Zabaleta, right, fired an equalizer in the 86th minute to give second-placed City hope of extending a 21-game unbeaten league run that went back to last season's title-winning climax.
However, Van Persie's 11th EPL goal since signing from Arsenal for $38 million in August left City six points behind leaders United after 16 matches.
The Macedonia FA were fined $26,000 after fans racially abused England trio Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell and Emile Heskey during a qualifying game for Euro 2004.
In September 2011, Bulgaria were fined $55,000 after a small number of fans directed monkey chants at England's Ashley Young, Cole and Theo Walcott during a Euro 2012 qualifier in Sofia.
Russia was hit with a $38,000 punishment after supporters made monkey noises towards Czech Republic defender Theodor Gebre Selassie during Euro 2012
The Croatian FA were ordered to pay a $16,000 fine after their fans were found guilty of "displaying a racist banner and showing racist conduct during the Euro 2008 quarter-final tie against Turkey.
Russia were again in the news for the wrong reasons at Euro 2012 and were fined $39,00 for "the setting off and throwing of fireworks by Russia spectators, displaying of illicit banners and the invasion of the pitch by a supporter," during the Euro 2012 tie against Poland. Russia was also fined $155,000 after clashes between supporters and police during and after their game against the Czech Republic.
Denmark's Nicklas Bendtner was given a one-match ban and a $126,000 fine after he lifted his shirt to reveal a betting company's logo on his underwear while celebrating a goal against Portugal in a Euro 2012 group game.
Porto were hit by a $27,000 fine after their fans were found guilty of subjecting Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli to monkey chants during a Europa League game in February 2012. It took UEFA six weeks to finally hand out a punishment. But questions were raised after UEFA also fined City $40,000 after the club were found guilty of coming back out on to the field of play late after the halftime interval.
In July, Terry was cleared in a London court, where the criminal burden of proof is "beyond all reasonable doubt". But the English Football Association then investigated the case, and using the test of "on the balance of probabilities", came to the conclusion that Terry's defence against claims he racially abused Ferdinand was "improbable, implausible, contrived".
Back in September, Ferdinand had declined Terry's offer of a handshake when QPR met Chelsea at Loftus Road as the feud between the two players rumbled on.
After the FA delivered the independent commission's report on the Terry case, the Chelsea captain's teammate Ashley Cole tweeted: "Hahahahaa, well done #fa I lied did I, #BUNCHOFT***S". The Chelsea and England left-back quickly issued a "unreserved apology" for his tweet through his solicitor.
In 2011 the FA had to deal with another racism case, this time handing Liverpool striker Luis Suarez an eight-match ban and a $63,000 fine after finding the Uruguayan guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.
Suarez and Evra failed to shake hands before the start of an English Premier League game at Old Trafford last season after the Uruguayan had served his ban. However, when United beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield in September, the pair did shake hands.
In November 2011, FIFA president Sepp Blatter told CNN that football did not have a problem with racism on the field and any incidents should be settled by a handshake.
The FA's Independent Regulatory Commission heard 473 cases between December 2010 and December 2011, but only two of them ended in "not guilty" verdicts.
Stoke City boss Tony Pulis wants the Football Association to punish Liverpool's Luis Suarez for diving. "It's an embarrassment," said the Stoke manager after a 0-0 draw at Anfield. "The FA should be looking at this."
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