The DFB-Pokal first-round tie between third-division VfL Osnabruck and second-tier RB Leipzig was abandoned with 19 minutes remaining on Monday after the referee was hit by a lighter thrown from the crowd.
Osnabruck were leading 1-0 - thanks to a goal from Halil Savran after just 23 seconds - when Leipzig forward Davie Selke got involved in a heated exchange with a player on the Osnabruck bench.
Referee Martin Petersen tried to intervene, but he was struck on the head by a lighter thrown from the area of the stadium occupied by home fans.
He disappeared down the tunnel for treatment and, soon after, called the game off.
"We're all sitting in the dressing room and are totally shocked and sad," Osnabruck's Nicolas Feldhahn said on Sport1.de.
"I've never seen anything like it. We're certain we would have won this game. I don't know what will happen now."
The visiting fans left the ground convinced that their side will be awarded the win, chanting "victory" after it was confirmed that the game had been abandoned.
The German Football Association (DFB) will now determine what action will be taken.
Meanwhile, there was drama of a different kind in Aalen, where a penalty shoot-out was required to determine a winner of their match with Nurnberg.
The second-division side came out on top against their third-division hosts with only three penalties finding the back of the net - two for Nurnberg, despite Aalen goalkeeper Daniel Bernhardt's best attempts.
He saved three, but his team-mates let him down by missing the target with four of their five attempts.
Finally, Hertha Berlin overcame the challenge of Arminia Biefeld 2-0 and Borussia Monchengladbach came from a goal down to beat St Pauli 4-1, meaning just three Bundesliga sides - Hoffenheim, Hamburg and Ingolstadt - failed to make it into the draw for the second round on Friday night.