A pitch invasion from fans caused the abandonment of the Melbourne derby and saw goalkeeper Tom Glover being struck in the face with a bin.
The A-League Men's clash between Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory had already seen flares thrown by both sets of fans during the first 22 minutes, before things escalated.
With hosts City 1-0 up at AAMI Park thanks to an 11th-minute goal from Aiden O'Neill, a flare seemed to hit a pitch-side cameraman before exploding, while City shot stopper Glover threw another flare back into the crowd.
This led to a number of fans storming the pitch, with Glover being hit in the face with a metal bin that had been used for other flares. The club later said the 24-year-old "likely has a concussion".
The referee had been stood next to Glover and was covered in ash, before taking the players off the pitch, with the game later being abandoned.
There had already been fan protests earlier this week after both the men's and women's A-Leagues announced the sale of the rights to their grand finals to the New South Wales government.
Both finals will be played in Sydney for the next three years after a deal reported to be worth eight figures was reached, with several prominent individuals involved in Australian football speaking out against the move away from the tradition of the highest-placed team hosting the game.
Protests also took place at other A-League games, including Central Coast Mariners fans leaving just 20 minutes into their clash with Sydney FC, while Newcastle Jets supporters also left during the first half of their match against Brisbane Roar.
APL chief executive Danny Townsend, who has come under fire for the decision, described the deal as "a unique opportunity" for a week-long "festival of football" around the men's and women's grand finals.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Pirlo sacked as Sampdoria head coach after dismal Serie B start
Andrea Pirlo has been sacked as Sampdoria's head coach after just over a season at the helm.
Pirlo, who managed Juventus for the 2020-21 campaign, has been relieved of his duties after an underwhelming start to their Serie B season.
After finishing seventh in Italy's second tier last term, the 45-year-old was given the green light to try and return to Serie A at the second time of asking.
However, an opening day draw with Frosinone was followed up with back-to-back defeats to Reggiana and Salernitana, leaving them second-bottom in the division.
During his time in charge, Pirlo won 18 of his 45 matches in charge (D10 L17), averaging 1.42 points per game, a total only bettered by his time with Juventus (2.15).
Sampdoria return to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris this weekend in search of their first three points of the season, welcoming Bari to Genoa on Saturday.
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