Waldhof Mannheim misses important points in the fight for promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga at Erzgebirge Aue. Coach Christian Neidhart then gets tough on his team and even tougher on the referee, who overlooked a crazy handball.
Bitter mistake in the promotion race of the 3rd soccer league – with a very bland aftertaste: After six games without defeat, Waldhof Mannheim loses 1: 2 (0: 2) at relegation candidate Erzgebirge Aue and remains in fifth place for the time being. For Aue, on the other hand, the game was an important step on the way to staying up in the league. Omar Sijaric (20′) and Antonio Jonjic (40′) gave the hosts a 2-0 lead before an own goal by Erik Majetschak (50′) caused tension. The supposed 3:1 by Sijaric (53rd) was withdrawn for offside.
A scene from the 55th minute caused a lot of excitement. After a corner for Waldhof, the ball came to Marvin Stefaniak, Auer bent forward, not only touched the play equipment with both hands, but also guided the ball away from his body. There has probably not been a clearer hand penalty in the recent past, but the whistle of referee Tobias Schults remained silent.
Waldhof’s trainer Christian Neidhart was stunned: “I just said to the referee: Tobias, if you don’t see it, honestly – if you see it yourself on TV, you will be ashamed of it,” he said at Magentasport. “I don’t want to say anything more about it. Another clear penalty would be if you caught that thing in the box.”
Once in a rage, however, Neidhart also criticized his own team. “If you think you have to do a little less in the league. Before the game, talk about the top of the table and all that shit. You have to make sure you do your homework week after week.” Pavel Dotchev, on the other hand, was blissful in his 299th game as third division manager. “That was a test of maturity,” said Dotchev, who does not want the victory to be based on the penalty that was not given: “I would have an absolute problem if my team’s performance was downplayed. We played a great game.”
