Football weekend scarred by violence on and off the pitch in Germany and Brazil

Hertha Berlin team bus shot at by motorcyclist

Hertha Berlin's team bus was shot at by a motorcyclist while it was travelling to Bielefeld railway station to pick up the squad ahead of Monday's German Cup match, the Bundesliga club said on Sunday.

Hertha published a photograph of the damaged bus windscreen on their website and said driver Stefan Behrendt was unhurt.

"We are deeply shocked and hope that the perpetrators will be caught. Luckily our bus driver got away with just a fright," Hertha sporting director Michael Preetz said.

Hertha are due to play at second tier Arminia Bielefeld in the Cup first round on Monday.

"We are shocked about this attack on the team bus of Hertha. Luckily the Berlin colleague was not injured," Bielefeld said on Twitter.

Such incidents are very rare in German football but violence occasionally occurs.

Penalty prompts riot police to protect referee in Brazil league match

Riot police took to the field to protect the referee from irate Palmeiras players at halftime in Belo Horizonte on Sunday after he awarded a penalty to home side Cruzeiro in their 2-1 win in the Brazilian Serie A.

Cruzeiro were leading 1-0 just seconds before the break when the ball struck Victor Ramos on the arm and the referee pointed to the spot.

Marinho's penalty was saved by goalkeeper Fernando Prass but that did not calm the Palmeiras players, who were still incensed at the referee's decision to award the spotkick.

Eight riot police kept the referee and his assistants on the pitch for two minutes before they could return to the safety of the dressing room for the halftime break.

Allison put Cruzeiro ahead after just four minutes but Cristaldo equalised for Palmeiras 29 minutes into the second half. Uruguayan Giorgian De Arrascaeta got Cruzeiro's winner eight minutes from time.

Cruzeiro's win ensured an unhappy return to the Mineirao stadium for Marcelo Oliveira, the coach who took Cruzeiro to the Brazilian league title the last two years before being fired after a poor start to the season.

A controversial penalty decision was also the main talking point in the derby between Sao Paulo and Corinthians.

The match ended 1-1 but Sao Paulo were denied a clear penalty with seconds to go when Uendel used his hand to turn away a goal-bound shot from Wesley.