France Lique1:Dimitri Payet hit by fans as Nice vs Marseille match ends in chaos

There was rage and controversy on the French Riviera on Sunday night, as the French Ligue 1 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.

By Our Sports Desk

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 fan making a beeline for Payet, only for him to be met by a wall of Marseille players.

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 then had to try to pacify his manager Jorge Sampaoli as the teams left the field with the Marseille coach incandescent with anger.