Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Lazio: Michael Zorc livid after controversial penalty call
Borussia Dortmund were left frustrated after a questionable penalty call prevented them from getting the win against Lazio in the Champions League.
Borrussia Dortmund missed out on victory against Lazio on Wednesday after the Italian side was awarded a controversial penalty in the second half, resulting in a 1-1 draw. Although Dortmund weren’t able to pick up all three points, the draw was still enough to secure their spot in the Champions League round of 16. A win would have helped them top the group, but the draw meant that they must match Lazio’s result on the final matchday of the group stage.
Lazio were the benefactors of a questionable refereeing decision that saw Sergej Milinkovic-Savic draw a penalty just on the edge of the 18 yard box in the second half. Milinkovic-Savic definitely beat Nico Schulz to the ball but the Borussia Dortmund left-back held back and refrained from making contact with the Lazio midfielder. At that point Milinkovic-Savic just leaned into Schulz, forcing contact and going down. It seemed as though VAR reviewed the call but it wasn’t reversed leaving those in charge at Borussia Dortmund fuming post game.
Michael Zorc was angered by the call and blasted VAR for not intervening.
"“I think you can only have one opinion when you see the pictures. Especially when you have slow motion. When such an obvious wrong decision is not corrected then you don’t need the video referee anymore. It was all about winning the group and it was a difficult game for us. It was just annoying! The video referee has to intervene. In such cases, I don’t know why we have the whole procedure.”"
Lucien Favre was also not impressed, delivering some quality quotes post game.
"“That’s incredible. That’s theatre, he is in a swimming pool. He exaggerates. But we are through to the next round. That’s the most important thing.”"
Next. Borussia Dortmund player ratings from 1-1 draw against Lazio. dark
Erling Haaland was ruled out until January before this game, striking a massive blow for Dortmund’s chances in the game and also for the remainder of the month. On top of that Mats Hummels picked up a knock on his foot that forced him out of the game. Borussia Dortmund’s next game will see them go up against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.