Scandal in the Bundesliga: Game abandoned in Bochum after a cup was thrown

Scandal in the Bundesliga: The game between VfL Bochum and Borussia Mönchengladbach was canceled on Friday evening because of a cup thrown.

In the 68th minute, assistant referee Christian Gittelmann was hit in the head by a drink cup thrown from a stand with mostly Bochum fans.

Referee Benjamin Cortus then immediately stopped the game.

The stadium announcer later announced that the game would be canceled.

At this point it was 2-0 (0-0) for Gladbach.

"First of all, we can only apologize in all forms for the incident," said Bochum's sports director Sebastian Schindzielorz on the DAZN streaming service and described the incident as "unacceptable".

He wished Gittelmann a speedy recovery and regretted the incident.

"Of course it's very, very unfortunate: It's the first time that we can play in front of 25,000 spectators again and the game doesn't have a sporting outcome," said the sporting director.

"It doesn't make a good picture, I have to say that very clearly.

That's not right.

It's just annoying, you have to say that very clearly," said Gladbach's sports director Roland Virkus, who also wished Gittelmann a speedy recovery.

Gittelmann kept rubbing the painful area on his head.

The team of referees retired to the catacombs of the stadium.

The Gladbach players followed shortly afterwards.

Bochum's goalkeeper Manuel Riemann went to the supporters and tried to energetically influence them.

Then they too left the field.

"You harm yourself and the club"

With announcements, the stadium announcer had repeatedly pointed out that the spectators should refrain from throwing objects.

It didn't work.

"You're not just hurting yourself, you're hurting others and you're hurting our club," said the stadium announcer.

At first the fans of both clubs sang, the longer the interruption lasted, the quieter it became in the stadium.

In front of 25,000 spectators in the Ruhrstadion, Alassane Pléa and Breel Embolo (61st) scored the goals for the guests in the 55th minute.

When the demolition was certain, the Gladbachers went to their fans in the guest corner and said goodbye to their supporters with applause before going back to their dressing room.

Even before kick-off, the game caused a curiosity: both teams were coached by their co-trainers.

Gladbach coach Adi Hütter and his Bochum colleague Thomas Reis were absent due to corona infections.

Hütter was represented on the sidelines by Christian Peintinger, while Markus Gellhaus was responsible for Bochum.

Both assistant coaches also had to change their lineups due to the corona.

The central defenders Nico Elvedi and Marvin Friedrich as well as the offensive player Patrick Herrmann were missing for the Gladbachers, for the hosts Cristian Gamboa, striker Milos Pantovic and midfielder Robert Tesche could not play because of positive tests.

Borussia recently celebrated an important 2-0 home win over Hertha BSC in the fight against relegation.

However, Borussia started erratically and produced too many bad passes due to inaccurate play to put Bochum under pressure.

Rather, a fighting game developed in which both teams gave nothing in terms of intensity and commitment.

Goal scenes remained rare.

Bochum's Armel Bella-Kotchap (37') had the best chance of scoring in the first 45 minutes, and his header was saved by Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer with a great reflex.

The hosts, who had recently lost 2-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt, started the second half with another great chance.

Sebastian Polter shot on goal from close range after a sharp cross from the left, but again the Swiss summer was the end of the line with a brilliant save.

In the sometimes heated game, however, it was Borussia who took the lead.

After a corner from Luca Netz, Plea was completely free in the penalty area in the 55th minute and volleyed the ball into the Bochum goal with the inside.

Just six minutes later, Embolo completed a counterattack to make it 2-0 for Gladbach.

Then there was a scandal: a filled cup was thrown from the Bochum Tribune and hit Gittelmann in the head.

Referee Benjamin Cortus then immediately interrupted the game - after a good quarter of an hour the game was then stopped.