Referee declares goalkeeper red |
Brych: “I almost felt sorry for Hradecky!”
Inside doesn’t equal inside. Leverkusen’s goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky (32) had this curious experience in added time in the 0-1 draw in Dortmund. He was in the penalty area, caught a ball with his hands, but they were outside the penalty area. The result: red after video evidence (90th minute plus 2)!
Referee Dr. Felix Brych (47) spoke in detail about the scene after the game. And it was clear that the situation had not been easy for him. But the rules left him no other choice…
Brych: “I explained it to Lukas Hradecky, I get on very well with him and I appreciate him. He’s a fair sportsman who always comes after the game and says thank you, you can really talk to him. I was almost sorry that I had to make such a tough decision, but there was no other choice.”
Brych immediately provided the reason: “It’s about preventing a clear chance to score, an offense outside the penalty area, whether with a hand or a foot. It will be valued accordingly. And since Marco Reus was close by and could almost certainly have picked up the ball and scored the goal in a one-on-one, that’s a scoring chance that’s averted – then I no longer have any discretion.”
Referee Dr. Felix Brych pulls out the red card after viewing the video images
Brych clarifies: “I punish the offense outside the penalty area, it could have been a foul. A goalkeeper is not allowed to play with his hands outside the penalty area. It’s really a funny scene. I’ve never given a red card like this in the Bundesliga, I’ve experienced that before in amateur football.”
And how did Bayer keeper Hradecky see the scene?
“From my point of view I was in the penalty area and caught the ball in there. It was probably centimeters or millimeters,” said the Finn, “I didn’t realize that this was a scene worthy of red, otherwise I would have done something else. Rule is rule, then it’s probably a red card.”
Defender Edmond Tapsoba (right) had to go in as a field player shortly before the end
Again Brych: “I saw his astonishment and explained it to him. I think he now understands what’s behind it – it’s an emergency brake and ultimately the regulation is applied in the event of an emergency brake. It was pretty harsh against him. But I’m the referee and I have to implement the rules to the end, that’s my job. I can’t say anywhere: ‘Let’s cut it short.’ That simply does not work.”
Hradecky himself is “probably going to be suspended for two games”, with the subsequent free kick central defender Edmond Tapsoba (23) wearing the shirt of reserve goalkeeper Andrey Lunev (30) had to go into the goal because Leverkusen had already made five changes. Hradecky: “There was no goal, I was almost hoping they would score…” Then the suspension would have been reduced automatically.
It is clear that the Russian Lunev will play in the home game against Augsburg on Saturday – just like in the last home game of the old season against Freiburg (2-1).
