No red card for Arnaud Kalimuendo: Kovac and Schlotterbeck left frustrated | OneFootball

Whether having a numerical advantage from the 82nd minute onward would have fundamentally changed the course of the game is hypothetical. Nevertheless, coach Niko Kovac and Nico Schlotterbeck lamented after Borussia Dortmund’s 3-3 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt what they saw as an unjustified lack of a sending-off for Arnaud Kalimuendo.

The Eintracht newcomer, who had been substituted in just under 20 minutes earlier, caught Schlotterbeck hard on the ankle, but referee Daniel Schlager only showed him a yellow card. There was no intervention from the VAR, much to the bewilderment of the BVB defender, who was left with a bleeding wound and made no secret on Sat 1 that he had expected a different color: “On the field, it was already painful. Given the intensity, I was sure it was a red card.”

Kovac is clear

With this, Schlotterbeck was on the same page as his coach. For Kovac, Kalimuendo should have left the pitch after the incident: “I don’t want to demand anything, but for me, it’s a red card. For me, it’s very clear, he first hits the top of the ankle and then below,” said the BVB coach, who became even more explicit after reviewing the footage: “So, I watched it again. Guys, if I first hit someone above, above the ankle, and then slide down, then the first contact is up top.”

At least, as a small consolation for BVB, Schlotterbeck’s injury appears to be only superficial and there is no threat of him missing any games.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.