However, a decision by referee Stefan Ebner caused discussions after the final whistle. Because the referee showed Salzburg’s strongest man, Strahinja Pavlovic, the yellow-red card in injury time. The Serbian central defender went down in the Graz penalty area after a duel with Mohamed Fuseini. Pavlovic tried to make contact and was hit – a penalty would have been tough but justifiable. Nevertheless, the referee showed Salzburger the yellow-red card for a swallow. This decision could not be checked by the video referee, who can only intervene in the case of red cards.
After the final whistle, heated discussions broke out on the pitch. Salzburg’s Noah Okafor could only be held back by several bulls with difficulty and fought a verbal duel with Jsuf Gazibegovic. There was also a scuffle. After the final whistle, the Salzburg supervisors around coach Matthias Jaissle and sporting director Christoph Freund energetically sought to talk to the team of referees.
Referee admits mistakes
“He falls very theatrically. The solution would have been not to give a penalty, but also not to give a yellow card,” said Sturm coach Christian Ilzer after the game on “Sky”.
An assessment that referee Ebner shared after the game and admitted a mistake. “For me it comes to a contact. But a penalty kick like that shouldn’t decide a game. You always talk about tact. Pavlovic doesn’t have any tension in his body, he throws his hands up. For me it’s a simulation. The consequence was then Yellow-red. But in hindsight you are always smarter. If I had let the game continue, the VAR might have intervened. It’s a situation in which you can discuss,” said Ebner, but added refreshingly honestly: “The consequence is Yellow-red maybe too hard.”
