Borussia Dortmund players hit out at referee after decision to allow Bayern winner to stand

Borussia Dortmund were left frustrated after referee Marco Fritz allowed Leon Goretzka’s goal to stand despite there being a clear foul on Emre Can in the build-up. The Black and Yellows looked set to hold on for a hard-earned draw on Saturday evening, before Goretzka scored two minutes from time to help Bayern Munich get the win.

Erling Haaland had earlier given Borussia Dortmund a two goal lead, before Robert Lewandowski scored a brace to bring Bayern level. Dortmund defended with great resolve in the second half, but were undone by the controversial 88th minute goal. Lewandowski completed his hat-trick just moments later to seal a 4-2 win for the Bavarians.

Both Marco Reus and Emre Can both had a go at the referee after the game, with the Borussia Dortmund captain claiming that the goal would not have stood had it been the other way around.

"“For me, the incident before the 2-3 was a clear foul,” Reus said. “If that had been against Bayern, he would have blown the whistle 100 percent. That’s just the way it is.”"

Emre Can felt that the referee was always blowing his whistle in favour of the Bavarians.

"“He can whistle for the foul (before Goretzka’s goal), but he doesn’t have to. I think the referee blew his whistle too much in the second half. That also breaks the rhythm. You want to be in a duel and then the referee whistles for red. I thought it was a bit too often today, and I told him that.”"

Head coach Edin Terzic also felt that there was a clear foul in the build-up to Goretzka’s goal, and said that there were several other fouls on his players which were not given. “For me that was a clear foul (on Can) before the third goal. We have to accept it now. There were also some physical contacts on the other side where the whistle was not blown.”

The goal proved to be a very costly one for Borussia Dortmund, as it consigned them to their ninth league defeat of the season. Edin Terzic’s side have now dropped down to sixth place in the Bundesliga standings and find themselves four points behind fourth placed Eintracht Frankfurt.

The games keep on coming for Borussia Dortmund, as they face a crucial Champions League round of 16 second leg tie against Sevilla on Tuesday. Dortmund’s next league game will see them host Hertha Berlin.