Some Premier League loanees were strangled and beat up after clashing with Nice ultras in the abandoned game against Marseille.
Ex-West Ham player Dimitri Payet was hit by a bottle and threw it back into the crowd before fans stormed the pitch, stopping the Ligue 1 fixture.
Payet was struck in the back by a bottle thrown from the home supporters as he went to take a corner, and then retaliated with a player near him trying to calm him down.
Here’s what happened to #Payet.
Can understand why the Marseille players are upset…pic.twitter.com/6xz35uOcSN
— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) August 22, 2021
Jorge Sampaoli is really wanting to throw down and knock someone out.
Marseille and now Nice squads having a real shuffle now. Basile Boli also wanting to uppercut someone.
Just wow. pic.twitter.com/yHcVRs0tIM
— TWDTV (@TWDTV1) August 22, 2021
He launched it back into the crowd, leading to fans pouring on to the pitch as stewards and players struggled to restrain them.
After a delay, Nice’s players came out to finish the game – however Marseille’s players refused to after what had just happened.
The game was abandoned as a result and Nice had been leading 1-0 through Kasper Dolberg’s first-half goal.
Some of the Marseille players were reportedly injured in the trouble with images now being posted onto social media showing proof.
Matteo Guendouzi & Luan Peres with strangle marks on their necks. (RMC) pic.twitter.com/oDvvspK5OB
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) August 22, 2021
Dimitri Payet’s back. pic.twitter.com/hFmiwg97ni
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) August 22, 2021
“Our players were attacked,” said Marseille president Pablo Longoria.
“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.”
The chaos continued as the players tried to exit the pitch, with scuffles breaking out and Marseille coach Jorge Sampaoli at one point being held back by staff members.
Marseille stars had been targeted by plastic water bottles from that section of the crowd throughout the match, before one hit Payet and saw the midfielder fall to the ground.
In the melee that played out, team-mates Alvaro Gonzalez and Arsenal owner Matteo Guendouzi ran towards the end of the ground to face down the fans and Nice skipper Dante then attempted to calm angry supporters.
A security cordon of stewards tried to stem the pitch invasion, but a brawl ending up breaking out between players of the two teams, supporters and staff.
Players and officials eventually made it off the pitch and back down the tunnel away from the chaos outside, having their injuries tended to.
Gary Lineker saw the viral videos, and responded by saying: “Why does everyone want to fight these days? Very disturbing.”
Under LFP rules, Nice should be awarded a 3-0 win as Marseille failed to complete the rest of the fixture.
But reports claim Marseille will take action with the LFP to get this reversed.
Les mots du président 𝗣𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗼 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 suite aux incidents survenus ce soir à l’Allianz Riviera. #OGCNOM pic.twitter.com/DqyVtWXQJp
— Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) August 22, 2021
It comes after Marseille’s opening 3-2 win at Montpellier two weeks ago was halted when fans pelted the pitch with bottles.
That game stopped in the 89th minute after Marseille sub Valentin Rongier was hit on the head and Montpellier’s Florent Mollet was also hit as he prepared to take a corner.
Referring to that game a fortnight ago, Longoria added: “This is the second time it’s happened. We have already experienced this in Montpellier where we decided to continue after the decision to carry on was made.
“What happened today is unacceptable. We must make it a precedent for French football and that’s why we decided to return to Marseille.”
However, Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere appealed for calm over the stadium’s public address system during the delay and felt some blame for the scenes lay with Marseille.
“It’s disappointing that the game ended like this,” he said.
“Everyone saw what happened. We can’t deny that water bottles were thrown because we could all see it. What ignited the clashes was the reaction of two Marseille players who retaliated.
“Afterwards, it is deplorable that the Marseille security staff intervened on the ground and hit our players.”
Another shocking image shows an OGC Nice “fan” attempting to kick Dimitri Payet. pic.twitter.com/Cwurpmnsq7
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) August 22, 2021
One of the Marseille staff ran on and lumped a Nice fan ffs 🤣 pic.twitter.com/Vq0aq1rN1u
— Pato (@jpaterson97) August 22, 2021
Fans reacted after seeing that the Premier League loanees got strangled and beat up after clashing with Nice ultras…
@OVinceThePrince: You can’t tolerate that. You absolutely can’t. I can’t even imagine the sanction Nice are going to receive from having security this shit in their own stadium. If this happened in England, stadium bans would be flying left and right. Completely unacceptable behaviour
@4dayjosh: It’s fascinating how fans will taunt an athlete and then act surprised and even offended when the athlete reacts.
@TomasLAllen: Can’t really argue with payets reaction tbh…they’ve just smashed him whilst his back is turned with a bottle. He supposed to be chipper and just say “ooh..you guys…”. Nah, he’s gonna be pissed.
@petritkr_: The Marseille players had to endure bottles being thrown at them from the very first minute of the game, so can you really blame payet for reacting the way he did?
@discoaluna: That’s not very Nice
@afcspain14: Look at Guendouzi man… always looking for fight 😂😂😂
@DomQ18: English fans get bad rep but they are nowhere near as bad as other European fans, bottle throwing at every game pretty much
@AJoyForever83: Payet did the right thing, fuck any fan who thinks they have the right to throw shit. Could have been a soccer style Malice At The Palace lol football boots are a weapon 🤨
@CR1S29: Na if the fans are throwing bottles at the players, they should not allowed fans for the rest of the season. Only way they are going to learn.
@philh1987: The shitty thing is payet will get fined or banned but why shud the crowd just get away with throwing stuff and not expect consequences
@Chrisw_1: Nice fans don’t look so nice
@scottmcd83: Why do people think it’s ok to throw stuff at players and then kick off if they throw it back! It’s the same when people a abuse players, if the player says something back they kick off
@loveridge7: Annoys me that fans think it’s ok to throw bottles or anything for that matter at players but oh no when they throw it back all hell breaks loose! Some people are just like school bully’s, they can give but they can’t take! Massive society problem!!
@jaimelondonboy: That’s because if you throw the bottle back you will almost certainly hit someone who wasn’t responsible. Better to identify the fan responsible and then let the player do an Eric Cantona kung-fu special.
Nice Ultras: *throw bottle at Payet*
Payet: *throws bottle back*
Nice Ultras: pic.twitter.com/FkDbYLMFFT— Gregory Kings (@Kings_Gregory) August 22, 2021
Messi now pic.twitter.com/6FPYYAu6rD
— Russell John Adams 🔥 #jft97 🔥 (@OriginalBro1981) August 22, 2021
Dimitri Payet next time he takes the pitch on the road #Payet #nicemarseille pic.twitter.com/ybNblY5rh2
— Brandon Kidd (@ThoughtsFromBK) August 22, 2021

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