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FC Utrecht's match against Go Ahead Eagles was abandoned for good on Saturday evening. With more than an hour played and the score at 1-3, Utrecht fans misbehaved on several occasions and the game was not resumed.
Go Ahead led 0-1 at half-time at Stadion Galgenwaard. When they went 0-2 and 0-3 inside the opening 15 minutes of the second half, Utrecht fans started throwing fireworks onto the pitch.
Several loud bangs rang out. The fireworks seemed to have been set off from underneath a white sheet in the Bunnikside. Some exploded right next to the goal of Go Ahead goalkeeper Kjetil Haug.
Referee Martin van den Kerkhof took all the players off the pitch, and the match stopped for about 15 minutes. Once play resumed and Utrecht pulled it back to 1-3 through Dani de Wit, cups were thrown onto the pitch during the celebrations.
That forced another suspension. Following consultation with the local authorities, the decision was taken to abandon the match definitively.
A dramatic start to the season
Under new head coach Anthony Correia, Utrecht had made a very disappointing start to the season with defeats to FC Groningen (2-1), AZ (1-4), PSV (1-6) and a draw against Sparta Rotterdam (3-3). At home to Go Ahead, who had taken seven points from their first four matches, the Domstedelingen were finally hoping to claim their first win.
Led by Ángel Alarcón, Utrecht started well enough, but Go Ahead struck first after 18 minutes. Mathis Suray tried his luck from distance and the ball flew beautifully over Vasilios Barkas: 0-1.
From there, Go Ahead took more control and carved out a chance for Stefán Sigurdarson. He swung over the ball in a promising position. At the other end, substitute Adrian Blake squandered a big chance shortly after half-time when he shot wide.
Then it all happened quickly. Barkas first kept out an effort from Victor Edvardsen, but Søren Tengstedt tucked away the rebound for 0-2. Soon after, Edvardsen slotted home for 0-3 after a cutback from Tengstedt.
De Wit pulled one back after the first temporary stoppage (1-3), but the match was then abandoned for good. The game, which still has around 30 minutes left to run, will presumably be completed at some point in the coming days.