Bundesliga News

Germany: Bundesliga
FT
2 - 1
(2 - 0)
Union Berlin
RB Leipzig
T. Siebatcheu (32), S. Becker (38)
W. Orban (83)

Werner takes swipe at VAR team for uncalled penalty, Aytekin responds

By Peter Weis   @PeterVicey

Following their fourth straight league loss to 1. FC Union Berlin, RB Leipzig head-coach Domenico Tedesco and recently returned striker Timo Werner expressed a slight gripe at an early penalty call that match official Deniz Aytekin opted not to award. 

Aytekin himself responded to the criticism by saying that there are "gray" areas in football that remain subjective even in the area of Video Assisted refereeing. 
Timo Werner.
Timo Werner.Photo: GEPA Pictures/Sven Sonntag
For RB trainer Domenico Tedesco, his team's sluggish start to the campaign remains inherently frustrating. The Leipzig head-coach cited midfield turnovers, poor game-plan implementation and, and Union's near perfect chance exploration as the reason the Saxons found themselves in a 0-2 hole at halftime.


"We conceded two on the first two scoring chances," Tedesco said in an interview with Sky immediately after the full-time whistle "We had the goal to shift out a lot and attack through the wings. For twenty minutes we didn't do that and attacked erratically That's how the goals against come about. Then we give the ball away too easily and they counter. A shame."

After dissecting the reasons his team got off to such a poor start in the match, Tedesco also noted that the squad didn't exactly do the greatest job falling into line during the latter stages. Tedesco also registered a complaint about a purported foul from Christopher Trimmel on Timo Werner in the penalty area in the 12th. The Union captain did make contact with Werner's legs in the box.

Tedesco made clear he didn't want to pillory match official Deniz Aytekin for neither making the call on the pitch nor referring a scene he could have to the VAR team in Köln. The RB trainer merely remarked, "that would have been the 1-0, of course". Werner, as it turned out, was much more vocal.

"If we took the lead, the game would have unfolded very differently," Werner noted, " I thought it was a penalty. I clearly felt the contact. Anyone sitting in front off a screen could have decided on a penalty. It's always difficult for a referee to make a decision on the pitch. He needs the support of the video referee, which didn't come. Bad luck for us."

For his part, Aytekin actually got the opportunity to address the scene in great length. The veteran referee said that he didn't believe that Trimmel's contact came after Werner was already stumbling.


"If you look at it at normal speed, you see that he stumbles and continues to run," Aytekin noted, "The defender also continues to run and of then hacks him down. To me, the cause and effect of why he falls down is why I didn't go call a penalty. It's a difficult situation."

Aytekin said that he did ask the "Kölner Keller" (The Bundesliga's VAR nerve-center in Cologne) for a review, but received the answer that there was no clear and obvious error to potentially overturn.

"We also have to stop blaming everything on Köln," Aytekin added, "In the end, I have the responsibility as a referee. The video referees do a very good job. There are situations in football that are not black or white, but gray. I think that's the problem."


More about the match

More about the teams

Bundesliga News

Fantasy Football

Tactics Talk

Editor's picks

Profiles

Turn back time