Hertha coach Sandro Schwarz was still annoyed by referee Deniz Aytekin’s reaction to the only goal of the day long after the defeat against RB Leipzig. “You can concede the goal, but he didn’t see the game situation. 15 seconds no one 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 am convinced that it will evaluate 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 referee’s failure to make a factual decision, who was still staring motionless at the edge of the penalty area in the direction of the goal a few seconds after the goal, brought Schwarz to a boil.
On the sidelines, he heavily criticized Oberasbacher. “He’s completely overwhelmed. Body language catastrophic, ”captured the external microphones of the broadcaster Sky. “I got too emotionally excited,” Schwarz said.
“I’m going to work on my body language now,” 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 one another. After that we’ll be friends again. One wants to show that he is stronger.”
“They all have scratches”
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 bit braver going forward. But that’s still to come,” said Boateng, “the team showed a good face, fought, and threw themselves in. Exactly what we need. Of course it’s annoying that we didn’t take a point.”
The Berliners, who in the past – and not just this season – had often acted rather hesitantly, showed teeth – according to Schwarz “from the first to the last second.” Boateng specified the fighting performance: “I’m proud of my boys. They all have scratches, a few ailments, it hurts there, it hurts here. A few yellow cards, that’s the way it has to 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., in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN): “There will be more wrangling there give, maybe there will be a red card. This is relegation battle. “