Argentina vs Morocco Olympics match involving Man City's Julian Alvarez descends into chaos

The Olympic football competition got off to a tumultuous start during the Argentina vs Morocco match involving Manchester City's Julian Alvarez.

Argentina believed they had secured a last-minute equaliser in Saint-Etienne when Cristian Medina headed in a rebound off the crossbar in the 106th minute. However, the subsequent pandemonium saw fans storming the pitch and Argentine players seeking refuge in the tunnel as firecrackers were hurled their way.

Play had already been interrupted twice by pitch invaders, adding to Argentina's exasperation as they pursued the game. Tensions reached a peak following Medina's goal.

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Those watching on Eurosport were led to believe that the match had ended in a 2-2 draw, but this was not the case.

In reality, despite 15 minutes of added time being scheduled, the players were removed from the pitch with three minutes remaining. Over an hour later, it was revealed that VAR had disallowed Medina's close-range header for offside, reports the Mirror.

This meant that more than an hour and 20 minutes later, with no spectators left in the stadium, the two teams returned to the pitch to finish the final stages, with Morocco maintaining a 2-1 lead. The players were called to warm up on the pitch in Saint-Etienne before resuming play at 6pm.

The extraordinary scenes at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard unfolded after Morocco had taken an unexpected 2-0 lead in the match, which initially kicked off at 2pm. Soufiane Rahimi netted the first goal before doubling their lead from the penalty spot.

Giul