A late hand penalty costs VfL Bochum the win against Augsburg. Referee Patrick Ittrich explains the decisive scene.

The fourth home win of the season was already in the air, but in the end VfL Bochum had to settle for a 1-1 draw against FC Augsburg despite leading into injury time.

After a shot from Arne Meier, central defender Ivan Ordets’ arm was hit by the ball in his own penalty area. Referee Patrick Ittrich initially allowed play to continue, but after a suggestion from the video assistant, he reviewed the incident and corrected his decision.

Augsburg equalized from the resulting penalty. And the following day, Ittrich used his account on X as a platform to create “some transparency in a key scene”, as he wrote in the introduction to his post. “The player had a clear view of the ball, went into a squat and held his arm at a 90-degree angle above his thigh, preventing the shot,” explained Ittrich. This is an unnatural enlargement of the body surface, “maybe also a reflex, which then causes the criterion of intention. Therefore, it is punishable handball and penalty kick”.

The 45-year-old also emphasized that it was impossible to see the handball from where he was standing. “That’s what the VAR is for.” The Bochum players, who had already conceded a penalty for the eighth time this season, did not even doubt the referee’s decision after the game.

Rather, it was their own missed chances that annoyed VfL. After taking the lead through Moritz Broschinski’s overhead kick (35′), the hosts had several opportunities to pull away 2-0. But Moritz Broni-Kwarteng and Matus Bero missed golden opportunities. “We should have decided the game with those two chances,” said coach Thomas Letsch after the final whistle. Instead, the team that created the chances took revenge: with the justified penalty whistle from Patrick Ittrich.