Freiburg (dpa) – Another assistant does not solve the problem of referee mistakes in the Bundesliga either – the disadvantaged Christian Streich and profiteer Bo Svensson agreed. Even with video evidence, the irregular goal of FSV Mainz 05 slipped through in the 1-1 (1-0) in Freiburg.
“Of course you can take another one. The question is where it ends because at some point there will be another mistake,” Freiburg coach Streich said: “It doesn’t always get easier the more people there are.” His colleague saw it similarly. “How many people should we have there?” Svensson said: “The mistake was very, very clear.”
“The VAR had the focus on handball”
Also because record joker Nils Petersen had saved SC Freiburg the draw after complicated months, Streich dealt with this discussion calmly. But of course he also puzzled why even the intensive viewing of the pictures of the video referee Sascha Stegemann was not enough to recognize an offside position.
The problem: Goal scorer Alexander Hack was not considered offside, the Cologne video cellar checked a handball. “You always think: It can’t be that something like that happens,” said Streich: “But mistakes like this have happened to you yourself, and you can’t explain why afterwards. Of course, the goal scorer is in such a way that one logically thinks of offside”.
In the scene after a good half hour, in which the guests had earned the lead, Freiburg goalkeeper Mark Flekken parried a header from Dominik Kohr. Hack followed up successfully, although he was previously offside. Flekken’s intervention did not lead to a new situation, explained referee Deniz Aytekin and the German Football Association. The offside should have been punished.
“The VAR focused on the handball and the Freiburg players had a brief complaint about the handball. It’s annoying, but the goal shouldn’t have counted,” admitted Aytekin on Sky.
How often did Streich get upset about referees. With this “very, very rare mistake” he acquitted Aytekin of guilt. He thinks it’s good that Aytekin kind of apologized for his colleagues. “I don’t know when such a mistake has happened in the last few months, with such a wrong decision,” said Streich.
Petersen: “A blatant liberation”
In addition to the excitement topic, Saturday belonged to goal scorer Petersen, for whom a couple of autograph hunters were patiently waiting after the final whistle. Petersen – who else, one might ask. But even joker goals are anything but a matter of course for him this season. Also, but not only, because of injuries, he didn’t get a chance. Thoughts of a farewell came up, his contract is expiring.
The SC record scorer scored only his second goal of the season and his first since the beginning of October. “A blatant liberation,” admitted Petersen on SWR. Just two minutes after coming on, the 33-year-old made up for the fact that SC had played without inspiration and with too little speed for a long time. A corner kick from Vicenzo Grifo, extended once by Nicolas Höfler, and Petersen was there (69′).
The fact that fans called his name and demanded his commitment caused “goosebumps”, said Petersen. “If you don’t score for a long time, it’s a bit like a phase of doubt,” he said: “Sometimes there’s a football god who doesn’t begrudge you anything.” Petersen extended his record with his 31st Bundesliga joker goal. Without him, the anger about the irregular Mainz goal might have been different.