The defeat of VfL Bochum angered one player in particular: Manuel Riemann. The VfL keeper saw Freiburg’s penalty as a fatal signal.

The disappointment was huge for VfL Bochum. They had given everything, risked everything in this exciting Bundesliga match on Friday evening, which VfL lost 0:1 in the end. VfL coach Thomas Reis saw a “really good performance” from his team and a strong performance from his goalkeeper Manuel Riemann. But the goalkeeper, of all people, who kept the box clean several times with strong saves, made a mistake before the decisive goal in the 48th minute.

Events came to a head immediately after the break. Riemann let the ball slip through his arms after a high cross and then pulled Roland Sallai by the trousers. The scene was reviewed – after video evidence, referee Marco Fritz gave a penalty. Riemann parried Vincenzo Grifo’s shot and Grifo’s following header, but he was powerless on Grifo’s third attempt.

“Dear fans, I take this defeat on my head,” the 33-year-old later wrote on Instagram. “The team played a super away game at SC Freiburg. A small mistake on my part led to this penalty. “

VfL Bochum: Riemann highly critical of VAR decision

Coach Thomas Reis was already annoyed with the video evidence. And Riemann was also extremely critical of the decision. “We say on the one hand, he’s doing it cleverly (counterpart Sallai, ed.), on the other hand it’s getting harder and harder to see a clear foul. For my part, I can say: I pull him by the trousers and maybe the rules give a penalty. But only maybe. But I can also say that I pull the player backwards and he jumps off with both legs and falls forwards. That’s not a normal movement for a foul play.”

Clearly, Bochum’s number one was seething. “Everyone can assess the situation for themselves, but I think it’s wrong to give penalties for something like that. Because we will soon reach a point where penalties have to be given after every corner. In my opinion, that’s a wrong sign for our great sport. “