Neymar among five reds as second PSG loss turns nasty
NEYMAR was one of FIVE injury-time dismissals as Paris St Germain’s second Ligue 1 defeat on the spin ended in a mass brawl.
Marseille won Le Classique 1-0 thanks to Florian Thauvin’s 31st-minute volley from a Dimitri Payet free-kick.
But the blockbuster clash will be remembered for what happened in stoppage time rather than the 90 minutes that came before as it finished eight against nine.
Marseille’s Dario Benedetto bustled Leandro Paredes to the deck when going for a long ball before the PSG sub reacted by flooring his rival.
That sparked scenes of bedlam that ended with both of them being sent off as well as PSG’s Layvin Kurzawa and opposite number Jordan
Amavi. Neymar followed them down the tunnel after the ref watched a VAR replay and saw he’d raised a hand to the back of Alvaro Gonzalez’s head.
As the Brazilian left the pitch at the Parc des Princes he told the fourth official that he had heard a racist comment.
Seventeen cards were shown, a record for a Ligue 1 game in the 21st century.
Thauvin said: “A lot of children were watching – we all have to be examples.”
It’s the first time PSG have lost their opening two Ligue 1 games since 1984-85.
In Holland, Arjen Robben lasted just 29 minutes of his comeback at Groningen before being forced off by injury in a horrid return to his boyhood team. The 36-year-old retired last year at Bayern Munich but in June announced a stunning comeback at the club where he began his professional career as a teenager.
Robben has had a career beset by injuries and the latest looked to be a pulled hamstring, suffered as he sprinted to chase a potential pass against PSV.
He limped off, ripping off his shirt in frustration, as PSV went on to win 3-1 on the opening weekend of the league season.
In Spain, newlypromoted Huesca spoiled former Arsenal boss
Unai Emery’s La Liga return by holding Villarreal to a 1-1 draw. In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen scored six times in the opening 32 minutes to crush fourth-tier club Norderstedt 7-0 in the first round of the Cup. But fellow Bundesliga club Hoffenheim needed penalties to edge past amateurs Chemnitz after their clash finished 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes. A Christian Bickel strike put the minnows in front in added time only for Andrej Kramaric’s spot-kick to force a shootout in which Bickel missed.