Foul or no foul? In a groundbreaking situation in the duel between FC Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, Ermedin Demirovic and Nico Schlotterbeck met directly. Until a year and a half ago, the Augsburg striker and the Dortmund defender played together at SC Freiburg.
“I’ve known Schlotterbeck for a long time and know that he is physically strong. For me that’s not a foul, football is a physical sport,” said Demirovic, describing the robust running duel with Schlotterbeck, which the Augsburg captain won and took the lead in the 23rd minute . “I give him a little push, but he can handle it. He’s a machine. We started strength training together in Freiburg, so it’s a little bit his fault that I push him away like that. For me, that’s not a foul .”
For referee Matthias Jöllenbeck it was a regular goal. The Augsburg captain’s goal, his eighth goal of the Bundesliga season, also withstood the scrutiny of the video referee. “He gives me a walking error. I don’t care about the top, it’s normal at the top. He pushes me, I want to keep walking and then I get the walking error,” said Schlotterbeck, describing the scene from his point of view on the TV channel Sky. “If the referee sees it that way, it’s not a foul and you have to accept it that way. I have to solve it better, that’s my thing.”
At least Donyell Malen (35th) saved Dortmund a point in a 1-1 (1-1) draw. “The problem with us coaches has now become that we are asked for our opinion and when we express our opinion, then we are told we have an excuse and if we don’t say anything, we have no opinion,” said BVB coach Edin Terzic out of. “I have decided not to comment on referee decisions anymore, but of course we saw it a little differently than the referee in this situation.”
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