“That just hurts in the long run”: BVB fume after Mané’s red card | OneFootball

After leading 3:1 against St. Pauli, Borussia Dortmund had to settle for a 3:3 draw in the season opener. Julian Brandt and Gregor Kobel sharply criticize the red card against Filippo Mané.

Borussia Dortmund had a nasty surprise at the start of the season. In the away game against FC St. Pauli, BVB led 3:1 until the 85th minute, but then the game dramatically turned. Young star Filippo Mané was shown a red card after a grappling foul against Abdoulie Ceesay, St. Pauli was awarded a penalty, converted it, and scored the equalizer to 3:3 shortly afterwards while in the majority.

Julian Brandt, who himself had scored the third BVB goal, was frustrated after the game: "In the end, when we lead 3:1, we have to clearly do better in getting it over the line." At first, he had hoped that the victory was secured: "Because I thought we wouldn't let that slip away from us." But Brandt admitted: "Basically, it was not a good game from us."

The scene around Mané was the turning point. Referee Matthias Jöllenbeck later explained: "In case of a foul in the fight for the ball, the penalty would have been the compensation for it and a yellow card would have been sufficient." But since Mané did not play the ball, but held the opponent for a long time, the dismissal had to follow.

Red card against Mané causes frustration among BVB professionals

Gregor Kobel defended Mané: "It's not an easy atmosphere at St. Pauli, it was one of his first professional games, so I don't want to dwell on it for long - we need to support him." At the same time, the goalkeeper warned: "Of course, we can't afford to get such red cards."

The repeated dismissals are a known problem at BVB. Already last season, six Dortmund players were sent off early in the league - a sad record. Brandt analyzed: "We've collected a lot of red cards and therefore left a lot of points behind. The fact that we've carried this into the new season hurts at some point. You can't explain this to people anymore." His clear demand: "We need to learn to not play with one man less at crucial moments."

Next Sunday offers a chance for redemption when Dortmund hosts Union Berlin at home. Coach Niko Kovac and his team will try to quickly shake off the bitter start and regain stability.

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