UEFA Europa League: Firework explosion halts Union Berlin match against Malmo

German club Union Berlin registered their first win of the UEFA Europa League campaign after beating Malmo by a solitary goal. The win keeps Union Berlin in third place, while Malmo is bottom of Group D without a point after three games. The Union Berlin vs Malmo match will be remembered for all the wrong reasons after an explosion halted the match for several minutes.

UEFA Europa League: Fireworks disrupt Union Berlin vs Malmo match

According to a BBC report, the match was interrupted for around 20 minutes after fans from both sides appeared to throw objects including fireworks and flares onto the pitch in the second half. As per the report published by The Athletic, play was halted just before the half-hour mark, with both sets of players taken off the pitch, before the game resumed in the 58th minute. Even riot police gathered at one corner of the stadium after one of the fireworks thrown near the pitch exploded, however, there was no casualty. 

Taking to Twitter, the German club wrote, "This is a mess. There were at least two rockets from the Union end, at least one big flare from malmö. Now it's a standoff. No-one knows what will happen." The club later added yet another tweet which said, "Just to clarify, it's not certain yet they came from the Union block. Or what happened, there are question marks everywhere. It was suddenly chaos. we are waiting for more information".

UEFA Europa League results: Manchester United, Arsenal register victory 

After a 6-3 derby defeat to Manchester City last weekend, Manchester United registered a come from behind victory over Omonia Nicosia. The Premier League club won the match 3-2. United fell behind to a goal by Iran striker Karim Ansarifard in the 34th minute. However, the Red Devils staged a comeback in the second half with Marcus Rashford equalising in the 53rd minute with a curling shot from just inside the area before he produced a deft flick to fellow replacement Anthony Martial, who cut inside and shot low inside the near post in the 63rd. Cristiano Ronaldo provided an assist for Rashford to grant him his second goal in the 84th minute. Nikolas Panagiotou replied a minute later for Omonia to ensure a tense finish.

Arsenal beat Norwegian team Bodø/Glimt 3-0 at home with Eddie Nketiah and Rob Holding scoring in the opening half-hour. Substitute Gabriel Jesus then set up the third by cutting through defenders before passing the ball to Fabio Vieira to finish in the 85th minute. Arsenal’s previous game against PSV Eindhoven was postponed in the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth II but the London team still tops Group A with six points.