The scene of the game: The fourth minute of stoppage time was running when Stuttgart hit a high ball into the penalty area. The goal was clear, after all, the young striker Saša Kalajdžić is two meters tall. That Kalajdžić, however, suddenly fell in a duel with Gladbach’s defender Ramy Bensebaini. According to the video images, referee Felix Brych decided on a penalty. A controversial decision, especially since Kalajdžić was touched on the foot by teammate Waldemar Anton before he fell.
The aftermath: The television broadcaster Sky had a lucky hand in selecting the player to be interviewed. Gladbach’s Jonas Hofmann was seething after the late penalty kick that it was “an absolute cheek,” he said, and Hofmann was getting louder and louder. His teammate Breel Embolo was fouled “50 times” exactly like this, nothing happened. “I’ve never seen that before,” said Hofmann.
The result: As you can imagine, given Hofmann’s reaction, Stuttgart’s Silas Wamangituka took the opportunity that presented itself somewhat unexpectedly. After all, Borussia Mönchengladbach had long looked like the winner of the game. The game ended 2: 2 (0: 1). Read the match report here.
The thing with the wrong decisions: A controversial decision therefore does not mean a clear wrong decision, which is considered the basis for the operation of the video assistant. Then the anger of the Gladbachers channeled itself after the game. Gladbach coach Marco Rose said on Sky: “Tomorrow there will probably be some reason again why this penalty was given. No clear wrong decision means that the video assistant stays away. Clear announcement. «Clear announcement.
The opinion: After the game, Brych also spoke on the Sky microphone. “It’s a complex scene because there are two contacts,” he said. He believes that the touch on the foot was decisive, but he did not see the scene during the video evidence, but only afterwards. “I think Stuttgart can be happy with the penalty.” These were unusually honest words from a referee.
First half: You saw two teams that are technically strong, but mostly not dangerous. Until Stuttgart’s Borna Sosa wanted to slide against Stefan Lainer in his own penalty area, but got stuck in the Gladbacher’s legs. Lars Stindl put the ball so precisely in the corner that it will be difficult to speak of an angle hit again in the future.
Stuttgart Sun Kings: In the power struggle between CEO Thomas Hitzlsperger and club president Claus Vogt, which culminated in a public and filthy correspondence at the end of December, Hitzlsperger spoke up on the club website on Friday. The ex-professional wrote, among other things, that he underestimated the force of his letter. The Stuttgart fans have had enough of the constant power struggles. Memories of the killed ex-president Wolfgang Dietrich are awakened – referred to as the sun king by the Stuttgart fans. A banner hung in front of the Cannstatter curve: »Sun King 2.0? You have a shadow! “
Second half: Things got interesting on the pitch after the break. First Gladbach’s Matthias Ginter saved against a shot by Waldemar Anton on the line (55th). Then Nicolas González headed a wonderful cross from Sosa from the left half-field into the far corner (58th). The six supposedly most exciting minutes of this game (see point one) ended with a pass from Stindl into Denis Zakaria’s run, which not only made it difficult for the Swiss not to take the lead, but also for national coach Joachim Löw for too long to forego this player.
Wanderlust: In view of a good tenth place for Stuttgart, the home record seems almost strange. Despite the late equalizer, they did not manage to win the eighth game of the season in their own arena. The draw against Gladbach was already the fifth draw, three more games were lost. How good for Stuttgart that next week in Bielefeld (Wednesday, 8.30 p.m.) and in Freiburg (Saturday, 3.30 p.m., both games in the live ticker at SPIEGEL.de, TV: Sky) two away games are on the agenda.
