Long after the defeat against RB Leipzig, Hertha coach Sandro Schwarz was annoyed by referee Deniz Aytekin’s reaction to the only goal of the day. “You can give the goal, but he didn’t see the game situation. For 15 seconds nobody knows what’s going on. He didn’t act properly,” said the 44-year-old. Schwarz continued: “If he sees this game situation 100 percent, I’m convinced that it evaluates it differently.”
At the same time, Schwarz admitted that the scene should have been better defended when Leipzig’s Amadou Haidara scored the 1-0 win in the 39th minute. But the failure of the referee to make a factual decision, who was still staring at the goal from the edge of the penalty area a few seconds after the goal, brought Schwarz to a boil, so that he also heavily criticized Oberasbacher on the sidelines. “He’s completely overwhelmed. Body language catastrophic,” caught the external microphones of the transmitting broadcaster Sky. “I got too emotionally excited,” Schwarz said.
“I will now work on my body language,” said the 44-year-old Aytekin in the Sky interview with a smile. He couldn’t understand the Hertha coach’s criticism: “I don’t know how we would have decided this game. I’m the very last person who wouldn’t admit a mistake.”
There were also heated moments on the pitch during the game, with Kevin-Prince Boateng in particular making an impact. The 36-year-old initially tussled with goal scorer Haidara shortly before the break, which earned both players a yellow card. After the final whistle, the previously substituted midfielder was in dispute with Willi Orban. The tussle is part of it, said the senior, who was in the starting XI for the second time in a row and sets an example for the remaining seven games: “Move back and forth a bit, insult each other. After that we’re friends again. One wants one show he’s stronger.”
The strength of the former Ghana international was a little lacking in his team-mates in the 90 minutes beforehand.””We should have been a little braver going forward. But that’s still to come,” said Boateng, “the team showed a good face, fought, threw themselves in. Exactly what we need. Of course it’s annoying that we didn’t take a point.”
The Berliners, who had often acted rather hesitantly in the past – not just this season – showed teeth – according to Schwarz “from the first to the last second.” Boateng specifies the fighting performance: “I’m proud of my boys. They all have scratches, a few aches and pains, it hurts there, it hurts here. A few yellow cards, that’s how it should be.”
For Boateng, it is the path that must be taken to stay up and which should be converted into points in the upcoming away game at Schalke 04 on Friday (8:30 p.m. / DAZN): “There will be more wrangling, maybe there will be a red card give. This is relegation battle.”
Hertha BSC website RB Leipzig website 27th match day of the Bundesliga Bundesliga table
