First a dream goal, then a lot of anger over several bad decisions by the referee: VfL Bochum feels disadvantaged after the 1:2 in Freiburg, not for the first time.
Made decisions in favor of Freiburg: referee Tobias Reichel. IMAGO/Beautiful Sports
Sports director Patrick Fabian needed to talk and went to see referee Tobias Reichel in the dressing room after the final whistle. Coach Thomas Letsch, who very rarely comments on refereeing performance, addressed the disadvantages in a calm voice but very clear in tone immediately after the final whistle.
A lot really came together for VfL Bochum in Freiburg. Because the bottom line is that you almost have to say: Vincenzo Grifo converted an extremely dubious hand penalty that was barely covered by the rules into Freiburg’s winning goal, the player who shouldn’t have been on the pitch in the first place.
It is completely undisputed that the Freiburg standard specialist should have seen red after his rude attack on Cristian Gamboa. Grifo himself admitted this afterwards, only referee Reichel saw it differently and left it yellow, and the VAR did not correct it.
“It’s undoubtedly a red card”
“It is incomprehensible to us why this foul is not punished with a dismissal. It is undoubtedly a red card,” complained Bochum’s sports director Marc Lettau, “in this situation we fully expect the VAR to intervene.”
Lettau also cannot understand why the referee later decided on a hand penalty. “Bernardo is shot at point-blank range against the support arm located behind his body.”
Not for the first time, a lot of trouble for VfL Bochum because of wrong referee decisions; Lettau puts the mistakes in the game management in a larger context. “In Leipzig too,” said Bochum’s sports director, “many situations were wrongly decided against us.”
Bochum’s anger is understandable
His summary: “We get the impression that it is easier to decide against VfL.” So always on the little ones? For example, because wrong decisions would spark much more violent protests against Bayern or Borussia Dortmund?
In any case, it is understandable anger on the part of the people of Bochum, and it is also completely understandable that those responsible position themselves so clearly in public.
It was doubly and triple annoying for the Bochum team that they had to travel home from Breisgau empty-handed. From a purely sporting point of view, VfL has recently caught up, showing itself to be much more stable with a new approach in Leipzig (0-0) and then over long stretches in Freiburg. And finally, VfL took the lead in Freiburg thanks to a dream goal from Goncalo Paciencia, who hit the far corner with a wonderful direct shot.
Not determined enough on offense
However, Thomas Letsch’s team has to accept the accusation of not being determined enough on offense. The best example: Christopher Antwi-Adjei headed towards the Freiburg goal alone deep in the second half, but then shot too unplaced and missed the huge chance to equalize.
However, the chances of getting the first win of the season will certainly not decrease in the next few weeks. After all, VfL has already played games against five European Cup participants.
Now there are opponents from the bottom half of the table: first the game against FSV Mainz will take place on Castroper Straße on Friday, then VfL will play against newly promoted Darmstadt and a week later they will host 1. FC Köln.
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