Video: Auxerre fans invade pitch before final whistle in French Cup semi-final

Fans invaded the pitch before the final whistle

Fans of French club Auxerre invaded the pitch before the referee blew the final whistle. With Auxerre leading 1-0, the referee blew the whistle for a foul. The fans mistook it for the final whistle and ran on the field.

In the French Cup semi-final, Auxerre were playing Guingamp and were leading through a 15th-minute Frederic Sammaritano goal. With Jamel Ait Ben Idir receiving a red card in the 72^nd minute, it was a tense ending for Auxerre with a numerical disadvantage.

Despite the stoppage time being 4 minutes, the fans ran on to the pitch when the referee blew for a foul with the clock reading 93 minutes and 30 seconds. It took them a moment to realize that their team had not technically won and once they did, they dissipated back to the stands.

Fortunately for the fans, the scoreline didn’t change and they got the chance to relive the victory again. Once the final whistle did go off, they ran on the pitch again to celebrate and congratulate their players on reaching the final.

Watch the video here: