Dortmund bosses refrain from criticizing referee in "deserved" loss to Hoffenheim
| Photo: Neil Baynes/Getty Images. |
Defeated 2-1 in Sinsheim earlier this afternoon, Borussia Dortmund's Lars Ricken and Niko Kovač refrained from placing any blame on referee Daniel Siebert for awarding Hoffenheim two match-deciding penalties.
“Firstly, we're worried about Niki Süle," said Ricken, of the centre-half who awkwardly injured himself milliseconds before the ball struck his hand resulting in the first spot-kick.
"On top of that, we lost a game due to two penalty goals, which, with a lot of imagination, could be considered justified according to the rules. He [Siebert] didn't even blow his whistle at first.
“Everyone in the stadium saw what happened. Someone who wasn't there might say he should leave. But we have our own issues and we agree: we don't need to point the finger at the referee,” BVB's sporting director added.
Speaking in his press conference after the game, coach Niko Kovač also placed no blame on the arbiters and praised Hoffenheim before giving his own side some minor plaudits.
“We saw clear dominance from TSG in the first half. We weren't present on the pitch. We gave the ball away too easily. We didn't create enough going forward and then conceded a penalty.
"It was given, so I accept it. The hand was away from the body. How it came about is probably irrelevant. The second half was much better from us. We moved the ball much better, we made ourselves available, we pushed the opponent back.
“Apart from the goal and one half-chance, however, we still didn't manage to create many more dangerous scoring opportunities. And with the second penalty, you lose. That's a shame for us, but it was deserved,” he added.
