A medical emergency in the crowd at the Stadium of Light saw the Carabao Cup tie between Sunderland and Huddersfield postponed.
The match was approaching the latter stages with the scores locked at 1-1 before referee Dean Whitestone blew up to half proceedings.
Sunderland had only recently equalised with Chelsea loanee Marc Guiu nodding in from a cross before the incident happened.
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Sunderland fans beckon for help after a fan fell ill in the stands
|REUTERS
Just moments after the Spaniard's first goal for the Black Cats, fans in the stands at the Stadium of Light attempted to get the attention of match officials.
One fan appeared to fall ill in the stands with the match being halted as a result, to allow medics to respond.
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Fellow Chelsea loanee Leo Castledine had put Huddersfield ahead after just the ninth minute with a major shock on the cards.
The 20-year-old fired the Terriers ahead with a resounding volley from just inside the box and had looked like they were progressing to the next round of the competition.
But the Premier League new boys pegged back the Yorkshire outfit when Milan Aleksic worked well to deliver a cross for Guiu.
The former Barcelona ace got ahead of his defender to nod past Huddersfield goalkeeper Lee Nicholls.
After the medical emergency, the match was delayed by nearly 10 minutes before it resumed.
Referee Whitestone picked up the ball and spoke to both coaches to alert them over what happened in the crowd.
It led to a period of injury-time that amounted to over 12 minutes, with neither side able to find a winner.
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Referee Dean Whitestone called a halt to the match after a medical emergency in the crowd
|REUTERS
Sunderland went on to lose on penalties after Aleksic missed the decisive kick from the spot with Huddersfield winning 6-5 in the shootout.
Elsewhere, the Terriers were not the only lower-league club to take a Premier League scalp on penalties.
Leeds United were sent packing after drawing 1-1 with Sheffield Wednesday.
The Whites missed all three penalties with new signing Dominic Calvert-Lewin smashing his effort over the crossbar before fellow arrival Sean Longstaff's effort was saved by Ethan Horvath.
Sunderland went on to lose on penalties to Huddersfield
|REUTERS
West Ham's shoddy season continued after losing to Wolves 3-2 at Molineux.
The Hammers had been leading on 81 minutes before two goals from Jorgen Strand Larsen in two minutes completed a remarkable turnaround for the home side.
Graham Potter's misery was compounded by club captain Jarrod Bowen, who appeared to try jump into the stands to confront angry fans in the away end.