Ligue 1: Nice-Marseille match abondoned after fan violence disrupts proceedings

Paris: Boosted by the recent arrival of Lionel Messi at Paris Saint-Germain, the French league was attracting attention for the wrong reasons on Sunday.

The league match between home side Nice and Marseille was abandoned when Marseille refused to restart the game over safety concerns.

“The safety of our players wasn’t guaranteed,” Marseille president Pablo Longoria said.

The game had been interrupted with players leaving the field after home fans threw projectiles and invaded the pitch. Unverified photos on social media showed at least three players were injured.

When it was decided to restart play, with Nice 1-0 ahead, Marseille refused to return to the field. Nice warmed up and the match was meant to restart with a Marseille corner. No visiting players were present to take the corner, the referee blew his whistle and the match was abandoned.

If usual French league rules are applied, an automatic 3-0 victory will be awarded to Nice.

Tonight’s match between @ogcnice_eng and @OM_English has been stopped by the officials.#OGCNOM

— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) August 22, 2021

Nice supporters had already been warned against throwing objects by the stadium announcer when, with about 15 minutes remaining, Marseille midfielder Dimitri Payet was hit on the back by a bottle thrown from an area with Nice fans. Payet threw the bottle back into the crowd, prompting a significant number of Nice fans to rush the field.

Angers and Clermont were the only teams other than PSG to have won both their opening matches but they dropped their first points of the season on Sunday.

When the referee returned to the pitch and saw that only the Nice team was in position to resume the match where it had been interrupted in the 75th minute, he called an end to the game. #OGCNOM pic.twitter.com/8lGxVyEnmW

— OGC Nice 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@ogcnice_eng) August 22, 2021

Angers hadn’t conceded a goal before Sékou Mara scored for Bordeaux in the 10th minute. But Romain Thomas leveled shortly before halftime and the match finished 1-1.

President 𝗣𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗼 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 spoke following the incidents that occurred this evening at the Allianz Riviera. #OGCNOM pic.twitter.com/k3v1upiCcW

— Olympique de Marseille 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 (@OM_English) August 22, 2021

Substitute Elbasan Rashani scored twice in the final 10 minutes to help promoted Clermont fight back from two goals down and snatch a 3-3 draw at Lyon.

PSG won 4-2 at Brest on Friday.

Other matches Strasbourg and Troyes both picked up their first points of the season as they played out a 1-1 draw.

Lorient had two players sent off late on in a 3-1 loss at Montpellier, which recorded its first win of the season.

Rennes also won their first match with a 1-0 victory over Nantes, while Metz and Reims drew 1-1.