Crowd violence halts Milan derby

German referee Markus Merk took the players off the pitch at the San Siro stadium after Inter fans began hurling plastic bottles and then over 30 flares on to the penalty area below them after a header by Esteban Cambiasso was disallowed. Dida received medical treatment to his shoulder while Inter players urged their fans to stop hurling objects on to the pitch. The goal frame disappeared in clouds of smoke as flares continued to rain down and burn on the pitch. The players came back on to the field after 25 minutes but Merk took them off again after just 30 seconds’ play and abandoned the game when more flares came down with no sign of intervention from the police.

Milan were leading 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal from Andriy Shevchenko, which had put them 3-0 up on aggregate. A UEFA spokesman said last night the result would stand "provisionally", adding: "The referee and the match delegate have provisionally declared the result a 1-0 win to Milan.

"However, that is provisional. The matter will be decided by the control and disciplinary body of UEFA in due course."

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said Dida had suffered "a burn and bruising" from the flare and reckoned the events had stained the reputation of football in Milan. "I can’t remember anything like this in all the derbies I’ve witnessed in these years," said Ancelotti. "The actions of the fans don’t just punish Inter but all of the city of Milan."

This is the second time this season that a Champions League match in Italy has been abandoned following crowd disorder. In September AS Roma’s game at home to Dynamo Kiev was halted after referee Anders Frisk was hit by a missile thrown from the crowd and the Serie A club were ordered to play two European home games behind closed doors.

"There were two or three hundred hooligans who were involved in throwing the flares," said Milan police chief Paolo Scarpi. "They have been caught on video camera - the usual hotheads from the Inter sector."

Milan in effect maintained their dominance over Inter, getting the better of them for the third time this season, although it remains to be seen what UEFA decides to do. It could order the entire match to be replayed, or just the last 17 minutes behind closed doors, but it seems far more likely that Inter will simply be eliminated.

Inter started the match strongly and only some fine goalkeeping from Dida, and some debatable refereeing from Merk prevented Roberto Mancini’s men from finding their way back into the tie.

Merk’s opening blunder was to miss a clear headbutt from Shevchenko on Marco Materazzi after just three minutes. It may have been out of character from the Ukrainian, but his dismissal could have changed the outcome. Shevchenko’s next involvement was to put Milan ahead. The European Player of the Year cut in from the right and fired a wonderful curling drive across Francesco Toldo and into the right-hand corner.

By the time Shevchenko had scored, Dida had already excelled himself with fine saves from Juan Sebastian Veron and Kily Gonzalez. Inter had valid claims for a penalty seven minutes before the break when Cambiasso went down under a clumsy challenge from Alessandro Nesta but Merk waved the Inter protests away. Chaos descended after 71 minutes. when Cambiasso had a header ruled out for a foul by Julio Cruz on Dida, prompting a hail of missiles to pour down from the stands.