Bundesliga match abandoned after linesman struck

The Bundesliga match between St Pauli and Schalke 04 was abandoned less than two minutes from time in Hamburg Friday after a referee's assistant was struck by a plastic beer glass.
Schalke were leading 2-0 against relegation-threatened St Pauli when the linesman was hit on the back of the head by a full plastic beaker thrown from a section of the stands occupied by home fans.

Referee Deniz Aytekin consulted the official, Thorsten Schiffner, who had been knocked to the ground, before abandoning the match after 88 minutes.

"Lighters and coins were thrown at the match officials in both halves of the match," Aytekin told Sky television.

"The linesman was then hit on the neck and there is no room for manoeuvre in a situation like that. We had no alternative but to abandon the match."

The referee said his assistant had been examined by a doctor but did not appear to have any lasting injury. He will send a report to the German football federation, which is thought likely to award the match to Schalke.

St Pauli coach Holger Stanislawksi led condemnation of the incident, and sports director Helmut Schulte said he apologised personally to the match officials in the name of the club.

"This sort of thing cannot be tolerated in a football stadium, I can only apologise to the linesman," Stanislawski said.

Spanish striker Raul and youngster Julian Draxler had given Schalke a 2-0 lead with goals in each half before St Pauli had two players sent off.

Jan-Philipp Kalla was dismissed after a second yellow card in the 68th minute and Fin Bartels was shown a red card 10 minutes later.

Schalke were well on their way to what would have been a deserved victory in coach Ralf Rangnick's first came in charge after the sacking of Felix Magath.

Raul ran free from a corner by Jefferson Farfan to head the 26th-minute opener and 17-year-old Draxler scored at the near post from a Farfan cross in the 66th minute.

St Pauli were down to 10 men almost immediately after Draxler's goal when Kalla was sent off after a second booking, both for fouls on Farfan, and Bartels was shown a straight red card 10 minutes later for bringing down Farfan outside the area.

If the result is confirmed, it will be a sixth successive defeat for St Pauli who remain third from bottom in the Bundesliga, while Schalke stay in midtable, currently five points clear of the relegation zone.

Leaders Borussia Dortmund take on third-placed Hanover in the day's top game Saturday. Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen are at Kaiserslautern while fourth-place Bayern Munich greet bottom side Borussia Moenchengladbach.