Kruse blasts controversial penalty call after dramatic semi-final loss
Werder Bremen captain Max Kruse was frustrated with the referee's decision to award Bayern München a penalty in tonight's DFB-Pokal semi-final.
| Max Kruse. | Photo: Werder Bremen |
Robert Lewandowski converted a controversial penalty to win the game in the 80th minute after Kingsley Coman went down in a duel with Theodor Gebre Selassie.
But the referee should never have awarded a penalty, according to Werder captain Max Kruse who didn't understand why the decision stood after use of the VAR system.
"That's ridiculous," Kruse told ARD and added:
"It was an all-or-nothing game, and we lost it. We have VAR, but if that's supposed to be a penalty, we can get rid of it."
Kruse was involved in an altercation with Bayern's Jerome Boateng after the final whistle, and he also explained what that was all about.
"It was about the fact that he believed that Bayern were clearly better than us, and that they should have scored four goals in the first half. He shouldn't be yakking at me, but celebrate with his fans."
Bayern's Thomas Müller was also asked about the penalty, and he said he felt the referee made the right decision when he pointed to the spot.
"For me, it absolutely looked like a penalty from the pitch. Gebre Selassie uses his arm. The decision is correct," Müller said.
Bayern will meet RB Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal in Berlin on May 25.
