Bulwark brakes shooters!
Mainz defeats Leverkusen 3:2, comes back after falling behind twice. But only with referee help!
56 minutes: Leverkusen’s Demirbay straddles Mainz’s Kohr fairly, but there is still a free kick. Aaron converted that to 1: 1 (57th).
Thorsten Kinhöfer (53), referee expert at BILD am SONNTAG: “Demirbay plays the ball, a clear wrong decision! Lucky for Mainz: A free kick and a yellow card cannot be checked by the video referee.”
Leverkusen’s Andrich at DAZN: “You just can’t whistle that as a foul, because there’s no better tackle.”
Bayer sporting director Simon Rolfes (40): “From the bench you had the feeling that he was clearly playing the ball. A situation like that also changes the game.” And further: “But that doesn’t change the fact that it wasn’t a good game from us.”
The controversial scene: Demirbay (left) clearly hits the ball against Kohr. Referee Cortus gives a free kick. Mainz transformed itPhoto: WITTERS
But there is a second controversial scene!
Mainz scores again after a free kick. Aaron crosses, Onisiwo heads in to make it supposedly 2-1 (60′). But the goal doesn’t count because Niakhaté was said to have been offside nearby and obstructed Leverkusen keeper Hradecky.
BVB star Mats Hummels (33) reports on Twitter, writing: “Now it’s completely pointless with the VAR.”
Mainz sports director Martin Schmidt (54) sees it similarly: “Niakhaté was passively offside, in my opinion he does not intervene in the game.”
Bitter: Bayer not only gambles away the win, but also loses top scorer Schick. He only scores to make it 0-1 (35′), but limps into the dressing room early (48′) with a calf injury. How bad is it? Send disappointed to BILD: “I don’t know, I don’t know.”
His representative Alario put Bayer back in the lead (74′), but that wasn’t enough because the jokers Boetius (84’/per volley) and Ingvartsen (88′) turned the game upside down. Strong: Mainz celebrates their fifth home win in a row (four of them without a clean sheet), climbs to seventh place.