Shocking moment assistant referee is hit by lighter launched from stands before player leaps to his defence

AN assistant referee was hit by a missile thrown from the stands at the end of a match.

A third-tier game between CF Montanesa and CE L’Hospitalet turned ugly as fans made their feelings clear.

An object was thrown at an assistant referee in SpainX @MarcadorCat

He clutched his head despite appearing to block the missileX @MarcadorCat

A fan pleaded for calm from the stands

They shouted at the officials as they walked off the pitch and a lighter was thrown at the assistant referee.

He raised his hand to block the object before clutching his face, appearing to be hurt.

Two people came to his aid but he seemed fine and began shouting towards the stand.

A Montanesa player then jumped to his defence and called for calm from the fans.

Spain has been hit by fan unrest in recent weeks with the Madrid derby halted by objects thrown from the stands last month.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was the target of many of the missiles thrown due to his former ties with Atletico.

Atletico boss Diego Simeone criticised the behaviour of his fans after the match.

He said: “The message was to think about the club, think about your team.

“You aren’t helping the team. They said it wasn’t their fault, they said they’d been provoked by the opposition goalkeeper.”

CF Montanesa beat CE L’Hospitalet 1-0.