By Paul Gorgas
Hertha feels cheated of the rescue point!
With a draw in Dortmund, the Berliners would have been saved on their own. But BVB made the Hertha lead 2-1 – and sent the opponent into relegation.
One reason for Dortmund’s victory: the controversial penalty to the interim 1: 1. Ascacibar only blocks a Guerreiro free-kick with the shoulder of his right arm. The ball then hits the outstretched left arm of Plattenhardt from a short distance, who hadn’t expected the sudden change of direction.
Referee Tobias Stieler (40) looks at the scene again on the monitor and then evaluates Plattenhardt’s handball as punishable. Haaland converts the following penalty.
From a purely technical point of view, the penalty whistle is tough, but justifiable (increased body area, significantly changed the direction of flight of the ball). Nevertheless, Hertha is raging because of the 911! Once again, the hand rule is the basis for Zoff.
Coach Felix Magath (68) angry: “It has nothing to do with sport, certainly not with football!”
Sports director Fredi Bobic (50) at Sky: “That’s a crazy rule! The ball is deflected and he (Plattenhardt, ed.) cannot react.
Then it comes for Hertha very thick. Moukoko turns the game for BVB (84th), seven minutes later Stuttgart scores 2-1 against Cologne in a parallel game – and the Berliners are relegated.
Hertha’s Vladimir Darida can’t hold back the tears after the final whistle Photo: City Press GmbH
Bobic: “The boys are down, totally exhausted. We have two games. You have to have the faith to pull it off in these two games. That will be the main task of rebuilding the team.”
Magath: “When you watched today, you couldn’t say that we couldn’t handle the pressure. We made a mistake in defence, otherwise we defended well.”
And once bad luck…
