Thanks to our user Philipp and the BuliSchiri blog, please find a review of the last round of Bundesliga matches. Below find clips of the most interesting situations from the weekend, including 2.Bundesliga matches (with the solutions of both blogs) and short analysis of how the nine referees in charge of games got on.
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| Frank Willenborg took charge of Fortuna Düsseldorf - SC Paderborn |
Let's start with the most interesting situations from the weekend. We present the views of both Philipp from BuliSchiri and Law 5 - The Ref (Mikael W.).
Borussia Dortmund - Schalke 04
Deniz Aytekin [VAR: Benjamin Brand]
10' Penalty (handling)? Referee played on, no VAR intervention.
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Philipp: Correct decision (short distance, rather natural position, ball first on the chest)
Mikael: Tricky situation, I would say a genuine grey area (deflection vs. deliberate play before? natural position? too short distance?). VAR should support either call.
FC Augsburg - VfL Wolfsburg
Felix Brych - AR: Arno Blos [VAR: Marco Fritz]
67' Active offside? Goal was given on-field, disallowed after VAR intervention (OFR).
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Correct call and intervention (would be interesting to hear from the comms if AR detected the offside position).
Eintracht Frankfurt - Borussia Mönchengladbach
Felix Zwayer [VAR: Günter Perl]
72' Penalty (charging) given, supported by VAR.
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Philipp: Wrong decision (too soft) but not a clear mistake (there is contact), so correctly no VAR intervention. In case of foul rather a [Second] Yellow Card for me (if the pushing and not a foot contact is punished), but also not clear.
Mikael: Correct call in my view, attacker won the position and then was charged over. At the moment of the foul, attacker is facing away from goal at the point of the foul - correct not to not issue a further sanction.
1.FC Köln - FSV Mainz
Guido Winkmann [VAR: Tobias Welz]
90' Violent Conduct (striking)? Yellow Card given, supported by VAR.
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It seems to be more of a violent conduct than not, but we are not presented with any conclusive evidence.
Werder Bremen - Bayer Leverkusen
Tobias Stieler [VAR: Tobias Reichel]
56' Striking incident, foul given, but no sanction; supported by VAR.
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Philipp: Arm used as a weapon and targeted at the opponent's head - rather a Red Card. Not enough to justify VAR intervention.
Mikael: 'Loaded' elbow gives some arguments for a Red Card, but considering the overall force / hitting point a (mandatory) Yellow Card in my view.
Mikael: 'Loaded' elbow gives some arguments for a Red Card, but considering the overall force / hitting point a (mandatory) Yellow Card in my view.
Erzgebirge Aue - SV Sandhausen
Florian Badstübner [VAR: Thorben Siewer]
4' Penalty (holding) given + Red Card (DOGSO); supported by VAR.
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Philipp: Penalty is clear, but I am not convinced about DOGSO because there is another defender nearby. On the other hand the attacker was already in a good finishing position, so might be still supportable.
Mikael: Correct penalty, and also correct Red Card in my view. At the moment of the foul, covering defender cannot prevent the (obvious) chance at goal.
Jahn Regensburg - Holstein Kiel
Martin Petersen [VAR: Nicolas Winter]
90' Penalty (tripping) given.
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Philipp: 50/50 call because there is also a straight leg by the white player.
Mikael: Rather correct penalty. Note the lack of anticipative positioning by the referee - ball is very likely to get hit towards the penalty area, and he is caught behind by not being closer to goal from the freekick.
FC St. Pauli - 1.FC Nürnberg
Daniel Siebert [VAR: Bibiana Steinhaus]
54' Red Card (DOGSO) given after VAR intervention, on-field decision was: no foul.
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Correct decision and intervention. With some dynamic sprinting, I think the referee would have gotten the call right without VAR (you can see that he doesn't obtain a good insight angle).
Wehen Wiesbaden - VfB Stuttgart
Sascha Stegemann [VAR: Robert Kampka]
+93' Penalty (handling) given after a VAR intervention.
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With replays the handling becomes clear (note, the decision was very controversial in Germany).
Philipp: VAR intervention justified anyway as a missed incident.
DFB made a statement that the decision to award a penalty was correct, but the VAR intervention was not. As Chefren says, this solution by DFB makes assessing handlings as a VAR in Germany very tricky, rather needlessly so.
Finally, here are the short reviews of the refereeing in each Bundesliga match, written by Philipp:
Deniz Aytekin in Borussia Dortmund - Schalke 04:
The derby was not especially challenging for him also due to the clear result. He and his decisions were well respected due to his demeanour and because of the quality of the calls. The disciplinary measures - including a verbal warning here at 23' and a caution for a SPA handling at 73' - were all at least supportable.
Manuel Gräfe in RB Leipzig - SC Freiburg:
His usual lenient style worked well in this fair match. VAR disallowed a late goal for a tight offside.
Christian Dingert in 1899 Hoffenheim - Hertha BSC:
The match started more intense than others, but he managed to control it with well-placed cautions. Later it calmed down and there were no difficult decisions to take in the game.
Frank Willenborg in Fortuna Düsseldorf - SC Paderborn:
Good performance in a relegation "battle", which only provided normal difficulty for the referee without any particular incidents.
Felix Brych in FC Augsburg - VfL Wolfsburg:
Solved the two challenging situations, aforementioned offside after OFR at 67' and a penalty (handling) appeal at 29', correctly not given (kicking the ball against his own (stretched out) arm, clearly no penalty by new LotG) the offside well-spotted by VAR [Marco Fritz]. He also explained, e.g. the no-handball call, well to the players and was in full control.
Felix Zwayer in Eintracht Frankfurt - Borussia Mönchengladbach:
Easy match that he managed without problems, cognisant of the debatable penalty call.
In Philipp's view this is not enough for a crucial mistake.
Guido Winkmann in 1.FC Köln - FSV Mainz:
More incidents than the other games. Correct penalty (pushing) decision at 4', in Philipp's view wrong free kick before the 2-0 (but not immediately before the goal, therefore just a normal mistake) and a possible Violent Conduct in the last minute. No further issues, therefore overall a good performance.
Bastian Dankert in Union Berlin - Bayern München:
Both crucial decisions were definitely correct. A goal at 18' disallowed for offside after VAR [Tobias Reichel] intervention, AR: Markus Häcker and a penalty (tripping) given at 39'. He faced some protests after decisions in midfield, but I think, his foul detection was good overall.
Tobias Stieler in Werder Bremen - Bayer Leverkusen:
Staying in the background, Stieler offered a good performance by issuing cautions for the clearly reckless and tactical fouls. He kept the game calm at all times.
Overall: a strong matchday for the refereeing, though the matches were of a lower difficulty than normal.
Thanks to Philipp again and we hope this cooperation can continue!
More incidents than the other games. Correct penalty (pushing) decision at 4', in Philipp's view wrong free kick before the 2-0 (but not immediately before the goal, therefore just a normal mistake) and a possible Violent Conduct in the last minute. No further issues, therefore overall a good performance.
Bastian Dankert in Union Berlin - Bayern München:
Both crucial decisions were definitely correct. A goal at 18' disallowed for offside after VAR [Tobias Reichel] intervention, AR: Markus Häcker and a penalty (tripping) given at 39'. He faced some protests after decisions in midfield, but I think, his foul detection was good overall.
Tobias Stieler in Werder Bremen - Bayer Leverkusen:
Staying in the background, Stieler offered a good performance by issuing cautions for the clearly reckless and tactical fouls. He kept the game calm at all times.
Overall: a strong matchday for the refereeing, though the matches were of a lower difficulty than normal.
Thanks to Philipp again and we hope this cooperation can continue!
