Turmoil after the final whistle
National goalkeeper Kevin Trapp no longer understood the world after his red card following Eintracht Frankfurt’s bitter 1-2 defeat at PAOK Saloniki. “This is a scandal for me,” said the 33-year-old about the controversial final point of Hessen’s second group game in the Conference League and criticized the referee Simone Sozza’s decision: “You can see in the television pictures that I wanted to mediate. The provocation came from PAOK. I don’t know why I got red.”
According to the regulations, Trapp now faces a ban. However, the Eintracht goalkeeper is confident that the incident will be “resolved properly” after the end of the game. He hopes “for common sense”. PAOK midfielder Soualiho Meïté (29) also saw the red card.
Immediately after the final whistle there was a commotion on the pitch. Trapp described the scene like this: “The game was over and I went to my teammates. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that there was an argument in front of the players’ tunnel. I actually wanted to stay out of it. Then I see the coach of Saloniki (Razvan Lucescu; editor’s note) emerging from the cluster gesticulating. I said to him, ‘Hey, calm down.’ Then a few more words from him flew in my direction.”
However, the referee perceived the situation differently and did not revise his decision, although even members of the PAOK staff assured “that I did nothing,” Trapp reported. “According to the referee, I started again when everything calmed down again. But I didn’t see what calmed down or what I was supposed to have started,” he said, adding disappointedly: “I have little understanding for the referee’s insistence on his decision.”
PAOK only scored the decisive goal in the 2nd minute of added time through 19-year-old defender Konstantinos Koulierakis. He had previously made a serious mistake in Frankfurt’s equalizer by Omar Marmoush (68th). In front of 28,701 fans, Andrija Zivkovic gave the hosts the lead with a free kick in the 28th minute.
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