- A wild night of on-pitch fights, wonder goals, and fan brawls unfolded in France's top
soccer league on Wednesday. - Violence marred three separate games on the night, with fans attacking a team bus and each other, and players brawling.
- At one match, two sets of fans stormed the pitch to fight each other after throwing flares throughout.
A wild night of on-pitch fights, wonder goals, and fan brawls unfolded in France's top soccer league on Wednesday in a crazy few hours of sport.
Violence marred three separate games in Ligue 1 on the night, with fans attacking a team bus at one game, each other at another, and players brawling on the field in a third.
In perhaps the most shocking scene, Marseille fans stormed the pitch after the final whistle of a 0-0 draw away to Angers, running to attack fans of the home side. The incident capped a night of violence at the games, which was marred by crowd trouble throughout.
As the match was going on, supporters of both sides threw flares and firecrackers at their opponents.
Following the final whistle, fans from the away end stormed past the security cordon onto the pitch in an attempt to reach the Angers fans
Eventually a significant number of fans from both sides started fighting each other.
Police and stewards tried to wrestle back control, but struggled given the large number of aggressive fans.
It is the latest violent incident in French soccer and the second involving Marseille this season.
Last month, a Marseille player was hit by a bottle thrown from the stands, which led to a mass brawl on the pitch, which culminated in a Marseille staff member punching an opposition fan.
Madness in Montpellier
Elsewhere in
At least 16 people were injured as Montpellier fans pelted the bus with stones as it arrived into the city, reports L'Equipe, per The Sun.
The home stands for the match were already partially closed after Montpellier supporters threw projectiles at Marseille players during a game in early August.
Bordeaux president Gerard Lopez reacted to the Wednesday's incident on Twitter, saying: "The football that I love is not and will never be this. Violence has no place in sport and I firmly condemn it.
-Franceat (@Franceatpresso2) September 22, 2021
While the pre-match scenes were unsavory, the action on the pitch on the night was the opposite.
The two side's saw out a thrilling 3-3 draw, with two of the goals being sure fire contenders of goal of the season so far.
Montpellier's Valere Germain opened the scoring from close range in the 11th minute, before Hwang Ui-jo equalized shortly after with a stunning long range strike into the top corner.
Jean Onana then put Bordeaux in the lead with an equally superb half-volley from outside the area which almost broke the net.
You can watch the goals below, with Ui-jo's coming at around 45 seconds, and Onana's at one minute and 30 seconds:
Germain got his second of the night after the break to level for the home side, whose then took the lead through a fine snapshot volley from midfielder Florent Mollet.
Montpellier could not hold on for victory, however, with Bordeaux's Samuel Kalu scoring with just five minutes to play to complete the scoring.
"It was a game to watch from the outside but not as a coach," Bordeaux boss Vladimir Petkovic said after the match.
Elsewhere on the night, Paris Saint-Germain's match with Metz ended in chaos with a Metz player and the team's manager both being sent off in the final minutes.
The drama then continued with PSG scoring a last gasp winner, which in turn sparked an on-field brawl between the teams as Metz goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja taking exception to PSG's wild celebrations.
-Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 22, 2021