German FA upholds two-match-bans for Hamburg’s Fabio Vieira and Mainz’s Robin Zentner | OneFootball

Hamburg will have to do without influential midfielder Fabio Vieira for their next two Bundesliga fixtures. The Arsenal loanee was sent off on a straight red card at the tail end of Sunday’s 0-0 draw with 1. FC Union Berlin. Match official Deniz Aytekin deemed Vieira’s high-boot tackle on Leopold Querfeld at 90+8 to be worthy of a sending off.

On Monday, the German FA judged Vieira’s action to be worthy of a two-match-ban. Hamburg appealed the verdict, yet saw their motion denied by the DFB on Tuesday. HSV argued that Vieira – who proved an essential part of the club’s first Bundesliga win in over seven years – did try to pull back before making contact with Querfeld.

The DFB’s disciplinary arm rejected HSV’s argument and ultimately upheld their second two-match-ban resulting from the weekend action. Mainz 05 keeper Robin Zentner also drew a straight red for denying Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi a clear and obvious goal-scoring opportunity in Saturday’s 0-2 home loss.

In Zenter’s case, the fact that Dortmund didn’t score on the subsequently awarded dead-ball rendered a two-match-suspension mandatory. Zentner actually swept Adeyemi off his feet before the BVB attacker entered the penalty area in the 67th. Dortmund’s Julian Brandt sent the 70th-minute free kick into the wall.

Mainz must play their next two league fixtures with 24-year-old Lasse Rieße in net. Rieße started two matches late in last year’s campaign, conceding one goal against Eintracht Frankfurt and VfL Bochum in each of his respective starts.

Unlike Hamburg, Mainz did not appeal the ban.

GGFN | Peter Weis