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Lyon-Marseille clash called off as Dimitri Payet hit by bottle thrown from crowd

carl markham, pa
·2-min read

Lyon’s match at home to Marseille was called off after visiting forward Dimitri Payet was hit by a bottle thrown from the stands.

Fan disorder has blighted Ligue 1 in recent months and Marseille supporters were banned from attending the game after sanctions against the club for a previous pitch invasion and clash with Angers fans in September.

The game at Groupama Stadium was just four minutes old when Payet was struck on the head by a water bottle as he attempted to take a corner.

The players had been off the pitch for more than an hour when it was announced the match would resume, with the spectators warned that one further incident would lead to it being halted for good.

While the Lyon players returned to the field to warm up, however, their Marseille counterparts did not emerge from the dressing room.

The Lyon players then left the pitch again, with confusion reigning over the fate of the game before it was finally confirmed, at around 2145 GMT, that it would be postponed.

Marseille’s Dimitri Payet leaves the pitch after being hit by a bottle
Marseille’s Dimitri Payet leaves the pitch after being hit by a bottle (Laurent Cipriani/AP)

Elsewhere, LaLiga high-fliers Real Madrid recorded a 4-1 win at 10-man Granada.

Marco Asensio and Nacho had put the visitors 2-0 up inside 25 minutes and although Luis Suarez pulled one back before half-time, Vinicius Junior restored Madrid’s two-goal advantage.

Monchu’s 67th-minute red card made things easier for Real and Ferland Mendy completed a comfortable victory.

Getafe’s second win in three games – 4-0 over Cadiz – lifted them off the bottom, while Real Betis’ 3-0 win over Elche moved them above Barcelona into fifth.

Serie A leaders Napoli’s unbeaten start to the season was ended by a 3-2 defeat at Inter Milan.

Goals from Hakan Calhanoglu, Ivan Perisic and Lautaro Martinez turned things around after Piotr Zielinski had put the visitors ahead and although Dries Mertens’ 78th-minute goal set up a frantic finish Inter moved to within four points of the top.

Freiburg’s hopes of closing the gap to second-placed Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga were dashed after they lost 2-0 at home courtesy of first-half goals from Eintracht Frankfurt’s Jesper Lindstrom and Filip Kostic.