Frustration at HSV
Chief referee speaks about controversial goal
January 11, 2026 – 2:10 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The controversial Freiburg goal to make it 2-1 angered Hamburg coach Merlin Polzin. Referee boss Knut Kircher classified the situation on ZDF.
After the next unsuccessful away appearance in the Bundesliga, Hamburger SV’s anger is also directed at the referee team around Timo Gerach, who did not recognize a foul by Johan Manzambi on Jordan Torunarigha in the decisive 2-1 win for Freiburg.
What had happened? Manzambi caught the HSV defender with his elbow in an aerial duel. Referee boss Knut Kircher took a stand in ZDF’s “Aktuelle Sportstudio” but did not want to make a clear statement. It is a “borderline situation”. The central question is: “Is it more of a clearing away – like a kind of bumper for the opponent – or is it a borderline normal, robust operation typical of football?”
Kircher added: “The player (Manzambi, editor’s note) goes up, his arms swinging.” Manzambi goes purposefully with his head towards the ball. “The defender comes into the situation from behind.” The Freiburger’s use of his arms should then be evaluated. After the game, Gerach said that he “didn’t notice any hitting movement” and couldn’t see it in the TV pictures.
Kircher thinks so too: “We’re not talking about a punch, that would be a red card in terms of rules and disciplinary terms.”
Hamburg coach Merlin Polzin – as expected – had a completely different opinion. It was “absolutely inexplicable to him how the game continues after a hit to the head and how we lose the game,” he explained after the game. “The elbow is clearly in the face. It has absolutely no place there.”
But Kircher’s classification doesn’t change anything about the HSV defeat. Due to the bankruptcy, Hamburg remains winless in foreign stadiums this season.