From a sporting perspective, MSV Duisburg could be satisfied with the 0-0 draw in Osnabrück. However, former referee Babak Rafati noted that MSV was wronged in one particular play.
VfL Osnabrück and MSV Duisburg played to a scoreless draw last Saturday in an intense top-of-the-table clash. It was a hard-fought point for the Zebras at the Bremer Brücke, one they could live with given the course of the game.
In addition, MSV reclaimed the top spot in the 3. Liga, as their rivals Energie Cottbus lost 0-3 to TSV 1860 Munich. Both teams have 26 points after Matchday 13; only a two-goal better goal difference currently tips the scales in Duisburg’s favor.
However, one incident during the 0-0 draw in Osnabrück sparked debate: In the 39th minute, MSV’s Jan-Simon Symalla went down in the penalty area in a duel with VfL defender Jannik Müller, followed by Christian Viet. Referee Timo Gansloweit initially let play continue but then showed Viet a yellow card for diving.
In his column for the website “liga3online.de,” former Bundesliga referee Babak Rafati analyzed the play. According to the 55-year-old, a penalty kick should have been awarded to MSV when Symalla went down.
“Symalla gets to the ball first in the penalty area and taps it to set it up for himself. Müller is surprised and also goes for the ball, but arrives a bit too late, only hitting Symalla on the foot and thereby bringing him down. That is a foul, and there should have been a penalty kick as well as a yellow card for Müller. Thus, the decision not to award a penalty was incorrect,“ according to the former FIFA referee.
The subsequent play, which, according to Rafati, ”should never have happened,” was correctly handled by Gansloweit, as Viet had indeed dived.
So perhaps even more would have been possible for Meiderich than “just” the one point. On Friday evening (October 7, 7 p.m.), MSV Duisburg is finally set to pick up three points again in their home game against SV Waldhof Mannheim, after failing to win in their last five matches (four draws, one loss).