Borussia Dortmund manager Niko Kovac has slammed the VAR decision to deny them a penalty after Karim Adeyemi was brought down inside the area in the second half.
Coming off the bench in the 76th minute for Marcel Sabitzer, the German international bagged a stoppage-time assist for Fabio Silva's equalizer.
Moments earlier, Adeyemi went down inside the box from an ill-timed challenge by defender Castello Lukeba but the referee waved on, refusing to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Furious at this, Kovac criticized the match official Benjamin Brand for his erroenous decision that supposedly cost Dortmund the game. He said:
"”If I may say so, I was also a judoka [a judo practitioner] until I was 13 or 14. That’s a clear sickle sweep. I really don’t know what they saw in the studio, but apparently the wrong thing. Of course Karim puts his foot out there, but he [Lukeba] doesn’t even hit the ball.""said the Croatian
Kovac was perplexed with the VAR team refusing to check the foul, as he added:
"“And I don’t understand why no action was taken [by the VAR team].Probably because they don’t want to overrule too much. Because if you overrule too much, it looks stupid, of course.”"added Kovac
After Adeyemi went down under Lukeba's challenge, Kovac and a few others on the Dortmund bench gesticulated at the referee for a potential penalty but the match went on.
Just a few minutes later though, Adeyemi attained salvation with an incisive pass for Silva to score and make it 2-2, earning them a point from the game.
Dortmund's sporting director Sebastian Kehl also weighed in on the controversy, echoing Kovac's sentiment saying that it was a clear penalty for his team. He said:
"“There were a few situations that could be discussed. But for me, it’s mainly a penalty at the end. Lukeba doesn’t play the ball at all. It was clearly the wrong decision. Even after a few minutes of thinking and calming down, I still think it’s a clear penalty.”"said Kehl
While the BVB's unbeaten run extended to 16 games in the Bundesliga, the draw meant the gap between them and leaders Bayern Munich, who beat Eintracht Frankfurt earlier in the day, widened to eight points now ahead of their showdown next weekend.
It's going to be a do-or-die clash for Niko Kovac and co., whose title hopes depend on it. Lose, and it's all over.