Romanian match abandoned after fans attacked players with punches and fireworks

This league match in Romania was abandoned before the half-time interval after home fans attacked players from the visiting team.

Steaua Bucharest were leading the game 1-0, when a Petrolul Ploiesti fan invaded the pitch and sucker-punched defender George Galamaz (#22). He then continued on to confront more players from the visiting team and was taken down by a kick by defender Novak Martinovic, who then preceded to kick the fan again when he was down.

It may not look so bad at first viewing, but the punch to Galamaz left him with a fractured cheekbone and a six week recovery period. The impact to the Steaua defender’s ear also caused him to have problems with his hearing.

Steaua’s goalkeeper Razvan Stanca (#1) and defender Novak Martinovic (#18) were both sent-off for attacking the Petrolul pitch invader, who was apparently upset at the referee’s decision to award a penalty to the visitors.

The match was restarted and Steaua converted the penalty to take a 2-0 lead. But soon after that, Steaua’s replacement goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu hit the ground after being struck by a firework from the crowd, causing him severe burns. The match was then abandoned.