In an eventful game, in which events seemed to unfold at the end, perhaps the most astonishing thing was that what actually always happens in such a game didn’t happen: Bo Svensson didn’t see a yellow card. The Mainz coach has been warned twelve times, more than any other Bundesliga coach. But in this game, the decisive scene of which he described as a “scandal” shortly after the final whistle in front of a crowd of journalists in the so-called mixed zone (without being asked and about a dozen times), he actually got along without it.
Although it is true that he was only spared because the referee’s area of responsibility ends in the said mixed zone. As a result, referee Matthias Jöllenbeck had no choice but to end his conversation with Svensson in the interior of the Mainz stadium shortly after it began, visibly frustrated. Yellow would certainly have been appropriate.
Jöllenbeck had probably hoped to be able to mitigate the Dane’s great anger in a direct conversation, albeit still in front of the media representatives. A misjudgment. “I understand that he would like the decision explained,” said Jöllenbeck at his last stop on a long journey from microphone to microphone. “But I’m disappointed.” Bo Svensson brought up a wrong decision he made in a game two years ago, for which he apologized at the time. “That shows me that you probably can’t exchange ideas with some people that much.”
The background to all of this was Jöllenbeck’s decision in the tenth minute of added time to award the FC Schalke 04 guests a game-winning penalty. After a cross in the seventh minute of stoppage time, which 05 goalkeeper Robin Zentner actually masterfully defused, the Schalke bench suddenly jumped up and besieged the fourth official. The pictures that Jöllenbeck looked at shortly afterwards on the VAR screen showed why. Defender Anthony Caci pulled his opponent Marius Bülter’s jersey completely unnecessarily.
The fact that Bülter didn’t have a chance to get the ball, that Bülter also pulled Caci by the collar of his jersey – none of that prevented Jöllenbeck from doing what he did. And so, in the twelfth minute of added time, Bülter scored the goal from the penalty spot with remarkable ease to make it 3-2. And even more important: he scored the goal that put Schalke in 14th place in the table, at least overnight. The promoted team is now one point ahead of Hoffenheim with 30 points and two ahead of Stuttgart and Bochum.
Couldn’t believe it: Mainz coach Bo Svensson (left) discussed with referee Matthias Jöllenbeck after the final whistle.
(Photo: Torsten Silz/dpa)
“I don’t think I would have gotten the ball,” admitted Bülter afterwards. But the pull was already clearly felt and since the TV pictures confirmed his impression, he said: “You can give the penalty.” That you can even give him mustreferee Jöllenbeck explained: “I saw a relatively long hold and, above all, it started before the keeper caught the ball. There may be different opinions, but when I see the pictures from two perspectives, it’s clear to me .”
Bülter’s pulling on Caci, on the other hand, was not a foul. The decision to go out to the screen at all was for him anyway because of the incident in Bochum last week.
The 100 minutes before the penalty kick were also quite entertaining
The fact that after the end of the game there was hardly anything else to do than this penalty whistle was understandable on the one hand and a bit unfortunate on the other. After all, the two teams also made the 100 minutes of the game highly entertaining. Schalke took the lead twice and Mainz equalized twice.
In the 26th minute, after winning the ball in midfield, things went quickly for the guests and at the end of the counterattack, Bülter needed three step-overs to take central defender Andreas Hanche-Olsen out of the duel to such an extent that a shot into the far corner was possible without interference. It was Schalke’s first good scoring opportunity, but it wasn’t the only one in the first half. A second goal would have been possible.
A wild exchange of blows developed in the second half
Instead, Hanche-Olsen made up for his mistake shortly after the restart and set up Leandro Barreiro with a powerful header after a corner kick (53′). The 1:1 did not last long, in the 60th minute Schalke switched again very well after winning the ball – Axel Král, Kenan Karaman and goal scorer Tom Krauss scored one of the best Schalke goals of the season. The free kick by Spaniard Aarón Martín, who sensitively lifted the ball from 20 yards out to make it 2-2, was also nice, even if it wasn’t played well (70′).
Especially in the second half, what was happening on the pitch hardly gave us any time to catch our breath. Bo Svensson had given up his otherwise obligatory five-man chain early on with an offensive change at the break (striker Weiper for defender Da Costa) and thus provoked the wild exchange of blows with great scoring opportunities on both sides. He probably assumed that his team would have an advantage. Passionately fighting Schalke proved the opposite and played their best away game of the season so far.
Once again, the Schalke fans are making the away game a home game
However, the central theme of the review remained the penalty, particularly in the case of Bo Svensson. “I regret the choice of words,” he later said, visibly agitated and confronted with Jöllenbeck’s statements: “But my opinion remains.” He could not understand why the missing whistle was a clear wrong decision and therefore to revise it.
On the other hand, this umpteenth VAR discussion (at least for the moment) after the final whistle was wonderfully irrelevant to the Schalke fans. Like in Sinsheim two weeks ago, they managed to turn the away game into a home game again, despite the Mainz fans bravely protesting. And so it echoed from the away block after the end of the game, but by no means only from there: “Schalke are the hottest club in the world.”