Coach Thomas Reis from VfL Bochum criticized the intervention of video referee Guido Winkmann in the game-winning penalty kick in the Bundesliga game at SC Freiburg.
“I stand by my opinion. It’s not a clear wrong decision by the referee,” said Reis after Marco Fritz initially failed to call the whistle.
The referee watched the scene in which VfL goalkeeper Manuel Riemann brought down Freiburg’s Roland Sallai again and then decided on a penalty.
Riemann parried, but Vincenzo Grifo sealed Bochum’s 1-0 defeat with the second margin. It was the fourth loss in the fourth game.
According to the rules, the prerequisite for the video assistant to intervene is that, in his opinion, there must be a clear and obvious wrong decision by the referee on the pitch.
“If you look at the TV pictures, you can see a grip on the Buxe after a few repetitions. But the player just does it cleverly,” said Reis.
Nevertheless, the coach was satisfied with the performance of his team. Five days after the 0:7 against FC Bayern Munich, VfL showed a great improvement. “We learned a lot from Bayern. The performance makes me feel positive. If we continue like this, then we have a realistic chance of finally reaching our goal.”