Scottish striker Lee Erwin was caught up in a terrifying riot in the Middle East after he scored in a title decider in Lebanon that was abandoned after fans stormed the pitch and attacked the officials.
The Scottish Premiership journeyman, who has spells with Motherwell, Kilmarnock, St Mirren and Ross County, is now playing his football in Beirut for Al-Ahed and he scored the crucial goal to put his side 3-2 up in the in a winner-takes-all title clash with Al-Ansar. The match was ordered to be refereed by officials who jetted in from Oman because of the poor standard of officials in Lebanon and was played at the neutral venue of Jounieh, with only 1,500 fans allowed in.
But the game soon descended into farce after ref Khaled Al Qusai disallowed a goal because of offside. The match was held up for 14 minutes after fans protested and started throwing missiles.
The game was able to continue only when the president of Al-Ansar and Lebanese MP Nabil Badr intervened and pleaded for calm. But the trouble really started when Erwin scored what would have been the winner in the fourth minute of injury time to make it 3-2 for Al-Ahed with a disputed direct free kick.
That sparked off a pitch invasion with seats set on fire and hurled onto the pitch. The refereeing team was forced to run for cover in the dressing room and abandoned the game. Al-Ansar spokesman Ayman Al-Sham said: "The referee was clearly not appropriate for the match and has ruined the entire season." But Al-Ahed president, Tamim Suleiman, said, "The Lebanese Football Association is responsible for the match not reaching the end due to its failure to manage this competition properly."
The Lebanese FA will make a ruling on the outcome of the game this week. Erwin has also played for Leeds United, Tractor in Iran and Haka in Finland and signed an 18-month deal in November in what was reportedly the largest contract ever handed to a player in the troubled country. He has scored six goals in seven games for the club in his time in Beirut.
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