The Tel Aviv derby suffered a 25-minute first-half delay after a barrage of flares were hurled onto the pitch from both ends of the stadium.
Hosts Maccabi eventually beat Hapoel 3-0 under former Watford boss Vladimir Ivic but the goals didn’t come before a chaotic half of football was over.
Playing against their city rivals in the Israeli First Division, Maccabi were able to extend an eight-year unbeaten streak against Hapoel, but it was a surprise that the game was able to continue.
The match lasted only seconds before flares and smoke began to reign in both penalty areas at Bloomfield Stadium.
Referee Roi Reinshreiber was able to restart proceedings when the smoke cleared in the eighth minute, only for more flares to come from the Hapoel end in the 15th minute and then in the 24th.
Former Bristol City goalkeeper Stefan Tone was able to avoid injury but his penalty area was covered in burn marks.
The referee then went to speak to the benches, potentially about stopping the game, before a tannoy announcement in the stadium sent a warning to the fans.
This seemed to stop the flares, but before the game was half an hour old Hapoel fans started throwing balls into their own penalty area to thwart Maccabi’s attacks.
New York Times reporter Neri Zilber attended and posted a video of the action on Twitter with the caption, “That’s how it started. It only got worse afterwards.
“Hapoel fans throw balls into play to stop Maccabi attacks 4-5 [times].
“Somehow the game continued. 25 min (!) additional time end of 1st half. I have never seen anything like it.
Maccabi’s match report called it an “electric atmosphere” in their sold-out stadium, but an “arsenal of flares and smoke grenades” forced the game to a halt before the balls were thrown at the pitch “whenever there was a sign of danger”.
Maor Kandil thought he could have scored one of the last goals in football history in the first half when he appeared to have given Maccabi the lead in the 16th minute of stoppage time, to see him ruled out for an offside VAR call.
Luckily though, for the home side and the integrity of the game, the show from the stands was over in the second half, with Maccabi scoring three goals in the final 15 minutes to take three points from a game that seemed to never end. .