Crowd violence at the Estadio Dr Lisandro de la Torre has raised fears that the Argentine Primera Division match will be abandoned.
A grenade was thrown onto the pitch ahead of Newell’s Old Boys game against Rosario on Sunday and riot police were deployed to protect the players.
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Riot police have been deployed to protect the players. Argentina’s Primera Division game at Estadio Dr Lisandro de la Torre was clouded by fans throwing explosives from the stands before kick-off.
The match went ahead despite these ominous scenes, with Newell’s winning 1-0 thanks to a 51st-minute goal from Juan Manuel Garcia, but security measures were tightened for the full 90 minutes.
Newell’s documented all the events before and during the match via its official Twitter account, starting with videos showing the grenades damaging the pitch.
Kick-off had to be delayed as the referee consulted with the head of matchday security, but the action eventually began and the players had to overcome the distractions of an explosive atmosphere.
Deployment of riot police
Fears over player safety were so strong that riot police were deployed to protect Newell’s team after Garcia’s second-half goal.