There were shocking scenes in the Bundesliga on Sunday when Frankfurt captain David Abraham deliberately clattered Frieburg manager Christian Streich to the floor as a mass brawl ensued.
With his side losing 1-0 in the dying seconds, the frustrated skipper was sprinting off the field to retrieve the ball near the halfway line and rather than sidestep the 54-year-old opposition manager, he body checked him and knocked him to the floor.
The Argentinian, one of the most respected coaches in the Bundesliga, lay flat on his back after taking the full force of the 6ft 2in centre back's charge before a brawl erupted between players and coaching staff.
The crazy melee lasted around five minutes before officials regained control and unsurprisingly Abraham was shown the red card - as was Freiburg's Vincenzo Grifo for his involvement in the aftermath.
Gelson Fernandes had earlier earned a straight red before half-time of a fiery contest, which was won by a solitary goal from Nils Peterson.
The victory meant Freiburg moved level in second with Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, who both won on Saturday, but Monchengladbach remained four points clear with their 3-1 victory over Bremen.
Two goals in quick succession from Ramy Bensebaini and Patrick Herrmann midway through the first half set Monchengladbach on course.
Herrmann's second just before the hour mark made it 3-0 and although the hosts saw Bensebaini sent off and Leonardo Bittencourt pull a goal back for Bremen late on, Marco Rose's men had done enough.
Also on Sunday, Bayer Leverkusen beat Wolfsburg 2-0 to pick up their first Bundesliga win in five matches and climb up to eighth.
Karim Bellarabi gave Leverkusen a 25th-minute lead and Paulinho settled the contest late on as Wolfsburg suffered a fourth successive defeat in all competitions.
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