The Australian top-division derby between local rivals, Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory, descended into chaos after fans invaded the pitch amid ugly scenes at AAMI Park.City goalkeeper Tom Glover was attacked by a metal bucket used to dispose of flares, and the match was subsequently abandoned for player safety reasons.Absolutely unacceptable ugly scenes at 20 minutes at the Melbourne Derby. Glover got smashed by a bin by some fuckwit. Terrible. Game paused. As if Aus football couldn’t get any worse rn #MCYvMVC pic.twitter.com/zN8CMMEFVe— Evan Morgan Grahame (@Evan_M_G) December 17, 2022 Football Australia denounced the “shocking scenes” and promised action would be taken against those responsible, while prominent figures in the game expressed their anger at the violence that comes just weeks after the Socceroos’ World Cup run had reinvigorated interest in the Australian game.A boy from South Sudan playing in the World Cup! Future Newcastle star Garang is making history in QatarBoth sets of fans had been throwing flares onto the pitch, but the situation escalated when one appeared to hit a cameraman, then exploded when Glover picked another off the ground and threw it back into the stand housing Victory’s active support.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Match referee Alex King, who was also injured and left covered in sand from the bucket, had no choice but to pull the players off the pitch and suspend play, before it was later called off.”Following shocking scenes during the first half of the A-League men’s match between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City … where fans from the Melbourne Victory FC end entered the field of play, Football Australia match officials have abandoned the match … in order to protect the integrity of the match,” an FA statement read. “Such behaviour has no place in Australian football, with a full Football Australia investigation to commence immediately, where strong sanctions to be handed down.”##NAJAVA_MECA_6893005##
