Paraguay's Libertad went from bad to worse on Tuesday with two players sent off in the second half of their derby against Cerro Porteno in a game that had already been suspended due to crowd violence two days prior. An assistant referee was hurt by a firecracker thrown from the crowd as the second half was about to start at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asuncion on Sunday and the referee suspended the match. The Paraguayan FA ordered the remaining 45 minutes to be played on another day. Libertad, who had conceded a goal to Cerro's Fredy Bareiro in the 24th minute on Sunday, eventually lost 1-0 allowing Olimpia to overtake them as leaders of the Clausura championship. Defender Gustavo Mencia was sent off in the 73rd minute for a bad foul and midfielder Sergio Aquino earned a red card in the 81st minute for elbowing Cerro midfielder Jonathan Fabbro. With central defender Miguel Samudio having gone off injured, Libertad finished the match with only 8 players.
In an almost carbon copy incident in Colombia on Saturday, the assistant referee Alejandro Gallego (photo) was hit by a splinter from a firecracker as the match officials took the field for the second half of Boyaca Chico's Clausura quarter-final with Atletico Junior. The assistant referee suffered a three-centimetre cut on his face that drew blood and the referee suspended the match at La Independencia in the city of Tunja with the score 0-0. Colombian league body Dimayor ruled the match would not be continued and Junior would go into Thursday's second leg at home in Barranquilla with a point for the draw while Chico would be docked their point. Dimayor also fined Chico 9.7 million Colombian pesos ($5,000).
Source: Yahoo Sport
Source: Yahoo Sport
