Niko Kovac defends Jobe Bellingham after key scene in loss to Bayern Munich | OneFootball

Quite possibly the most important scene in Saturday evening’s “Bundesliga Top-Spiel” saw Bayern Munich’s Michel Olise score what would prove the game winning goal in the 78th-minute. Bayern were able to secure a 2-1 win over visiting title challengers Borussia Dortmund in part thanks to a failed clearance from Dortmund’s Jobe Bellingham.

The young Englishman took too long to clear a Luis Diaz cross in front of goal. Olise happily pounced, sliding the 2-0 into the back of the net. Trailing by only one goal with only 12 minutes remaining, Dortmund might have been able to make a game of it had the scene played out differently. As it turned out, an 84th-minute “pull back goal” proved insufficient.

BVB head coach Niko Kovac specifically addressed the scene at his post-match press conference. After praising his team’s second half performance in general, Kovac made clear that – unlike in other past instances – he saw nothing wrong with Bellingham’s action.

“I can’t find any fault with Jobe,” Kovac said. “He was standing where he needed to be. The ball was played in so sharply. It was an artistic feat in its own right that he didn’t score an own-goal. When a ball is played in so sharply, his first task is to hold his center-of-gravity.

“He had his head down and Olise took advantage of this split second and slid in,” Kovac continued. “That’s not a simple [situation]. There’s no fault. I think that everything is fine with that situation.“

GGFN | Peter Weis