The series of ever-new oddities in the work of the referees in the Cologne basement is slowly reaching proportions that can compete with the big long-running TV shows like “Lindenstrasse”. In Borussia Mönchengladbach’s 1:2 (0:2) draw against Borussia Dortmund, Marcel Sabitzer shot a penalty into the Gladbach goal to make it 1:3, which was taken back when the shooter was already cheering and running towards his celebrating fans.
Sabitzer later reported that he thought the ball had already been released: “There was a whistle, I heard one one hundred percent, but it probably came from the stands.” Only then did the referees come to the conclusion that the one with that The penalty-punished contact between Mönchengladbach goalkeeper Jonas Omlin and Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi was not a foul at all.
This was not only strange, but also irritating because referee Florian Badstübner, through his position on the pitch and his posture, gave the impression that the test had been completed and nothing stood in the way of its execution. In the end, Sabitzer, who also scored both legal goals for BVB, didn’t have to be angry. “We laughed for a moment because it hadn’t happened before,” he said, and was happy about a hard-fought away win.
Preparer Nico Schlotterbeck
“It was an extremely intense game for us,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic. “We accepted the fight and defended very passionately.” After a yellow-red card against Karim Adeyemi, BVB played outnumbered for more than 40 minutes. This constellation resulted in a very exciting final phase. Gladbach fought for the equalizer, and in injury time Tomas Cvancara had two good opportunities to make it 2-2 (90+1, 90+2).
It initially looked as if BVB would have to invest much less for these three important points in the fight for participation in the next Champions League season. After all, they had a comfortable 2-0 lead after half an hour after Sabitzer’s goals.
Both goals were prepared by Nico Schlotterbeck: First, the defender played a long ball into the penalty area, where the Austrian colleague was successful with a powerful left-footed shot into the far corner (22nd). And six minutes later, Nathan Ngomou stepped on Schlotterbeck’s foot in the penalty area, and Sabitzer confidently converted the following penalty.
Nico Schlotterbeck assisted Sabitzer twice. : Image: dpa
The Dortmund coaching team seemed to have done everything right with the massive intervention in the starting eleven between the two big quarter-final games against Atlético Madrid. Niclas Füllkrug, Mats Hummels, Julian Ryerson and captain Emre Can initially sat on the bench.
Jadon Sancho was also missing due to a gastrointestinal infection. And then Dortmund had to replace Sébastien Haller early on (9th), who suffered an old foot injury during a duel with Nico Elvedi that kept the striker from playing football for a long time after the winter break.
But the plan seemed to work well. Julian Brandt was in strong form, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, who was substituted during the break with back problems, also delighted the BVB supporters with a number of good actions, while the Gladbachers initially performed as they have often done this season: not entirely bad, but a bit dull.
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Perhaps this overall picture led to Dortmund, feeling superior and with a comfortable two-goal lead, to reduce their commitment too early. After 36 minutes, they gave Gladbach’s defender Maximilian Wöber a lot of space after a corner; the Austrian headed the ball from eight meters far away from all opponents and made it 1-2.
This put Mönchengladbach back in the game, and the resistance became stronger and stronger in the second half. “It wasn’t a matter of will, we were there,” said goalkeeper Omlin. What was missing, however, was the brilliant idea in the attacking third after Adeyemi was sent off after an intentional tactical foul on Wöber (55th).
The action really annoyed Terzic. “We addressed exactly these situations,” said the coach, and Adeyemi also quickly showed remorse: “He apologized to the team,” reported Terzic, who can be delighted with the three points. But the plan to save as much energy as possible this afternoon in view of the difficult game against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday did not work.
