Football news - Dimitri Payet struck as Nice vs Marseille descends into chaos and pitch invasion
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Updated 22/08/2021 at 22:56 GMT
There was rage and controversy on the French Riviera on Sunday night, as the Ligue Un match between Nice and Marseille descended into chaos. Marseille's playmaker Dimitri Payet was apparently hit by a missile from the crowd and the player then appeared to launch an object back towards the stands. A pitch invasion followed.
Nice vs Marseille
Image credit: Getty Images
Nice vs Marseille was suspended after bottles were thrown to and from the crowd and fans invaded the Nice pitch.
The two south coast teams were playing on Sunday night and Kasper Dolberg’s early second-half goal looked set to decide the match in Nice's favour as Dimitri Payet prepared to take a corner for the away side. However, the former West Ham playmaker fell to the ground after he appeared to be struck by a projectile from the crowd.
Dramatically, the player then appeared to launch an object back towards the crowd - not once but twice. Enraged, fans charged towards the pitch, with one making a beeline for Payet, only for him to be met by a wall of Marseille players. Reports suggested that Gerson, Mattéo Guendouzi, Pape Gueye and Boubacar Kamara attempted to intervene as the situation threatened to get out of control.
Fury had now engulfed the Allianz Riviera with more fans streaming down from the stands as further projectiles rained down on the pitch as a full-scale melee broke out. Stewards raced from different parts of the stadium to confront the situation, but play was suspended.
Payet - having been a main protagonist in the original incident - then had to try to pacify his manager Jorge Sampaoli as the teams left the field with the Marseille coach incandescent with anger as another fracas took place near the tunnel.
After a substantial delay, the match would be abandoned. The Nice team returned to finish the match but the Marseille players did not, their president Pablo Longoria said:
Our players were attacked
"We decided for the safety of our players, who were attacked during the pitch invasion, not to resume the match because the safety of our players was not guaranteed."
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