Crowd trouble mars northern derby between Werder and Hamburg SV

BREMEN, Germany, April 18 : Hamburg SV fans lit flares and fires in the stadium and clashed with police at the end of Werder Bremen's 3-1 win over their visiting northern rivals in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

With both teams battling to avoid the drop, tensions ran high on and off the pitch and Hamburg finished the game with 10 players. Both Hamburg's and Werder's assistant coaches were also sent off in stoppage time.

Straight after the final whistle, Hamburg fans lit flares and fired projectiles across the pitch and into the stands of the home fans, while also lighting fires, before police moved in to clear the tribune, clashing with the visiting fans.

Some of the flares flew not far from Werder players still on the pitch at the time.

"When boundaries are crossed, that doesn't belong on the football pitch," Werder coach Daniel Thioune, who has also coached Hamburg in the past, said at the post-match press conference.

"The risk of injury was very high. I saw that some things hit the players next to us." 

The win lifted Werder to 31 points in 14th, level with 13th-placed Hamburg, with four matches left in the season.