Club World Cup match halted as crowd told to find shelter in worrying scenes
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The Club World Cup match between Palmeiras and Egyptian side Al Ahly had to be temporarily suspended on Thursday due to lightning in the area. The clock had just ticked past the hour mark when English referee Anthony Taylor - a familiar face to Premier League fans - stepped in to halt proceedings.
Taylor waved both sets of players back to the dressing rooms and fans were ushered into the concourse at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey - the host venue for next year's World Cup final. Even the commentators had to divert their coverage back to the studio as a warning message was displayed on the stadium's big screens.
It read: "Your attention please. For your safety, we are going to have everyone leave the Seating Bowl area and take shelter inside the stadium because of severe weather in the area.
"Event Staff are available to guide and assist you. Those on the field, please walk calmly to the nearest tunnel, to the West Hall, or to the service corridor."
Brazilian side Palmeiras were two goals to the good by the time their second match of the tournament was halted. The Group A contenders took the lead in the 49th minute through a Wessam Abou Ali own goal, and doubled their advantage shortly before the hour when Jose Manuel Lopez netted.
The delay arrived moments later, lasting 48 minutes as play resumed at 2.15pm local time in the American north-east. And Palmeiras held onto their advantage until the final whistle, temporarily going top of the group ahead of Porto's clash with Inter Miami.
Estevao Willian, who only turned 18 in April, earned the Player of the Match award for the second game running, which has sparked fresh excitement among Chelsea fans ahead of his arrival at Stamford Bridge later this summer.
Weather disruptions have become an unwelcome but common theme at the revamped Club World Cup. Organisers were forced to shuffle things around on Tuesday night when a thunderstorm caused kick-off in the match between Ulsan Hyundai and Mamelodi Sundowns to be moved back from 6pm local time to 7.05pm.
More dangerous conditions struck on Wednesday, prompting the clash between RB Salzburg and Pachuca to be suspended in the 54th minute. The match did not resume for over an hour as decision-makers were forced to wait until the storm passed through.
