Ilzer and Baumann “understood” Stegemann’s late call

Hoffenheim fans were left hard done by the manner Sascha Stegemann disallowed their winning goal against Mainz, but there was no protest from the club.

Sascha Stegemann explained his decision to chalk off Ihlas Bebou’s late goal for Hoffenheim in Mainz. The two teams shared the spoils in the opening fixture of matchday 12 after a dramatic final 20 minutes.

“Basically, we don’t stop the game when the play is close to the goal,” said the referee at the start of his explanation. “We delayed the decision to let the attack play to the end, and allow the VAR to intervene in case of doubt.

“However, I had the impression that there was a punishable handball (by Robin Hranac). Then, I backed it up with the assistant at the line. The process has taken a bit too long. But, in the end, it’s the right decision.”

The ball was on the back of the net 17 seconds after the handball in the middle of the pitch. Hoffenheim’s captain, Oliver Baumann, had no complaints after the end of the game. “I think it was an understandable decision,” said the goalkeeper who has played his 500th Bundesliga match.

Christian Ilzer also played down the talk of an injury-time controversy. “I didn’t understand the rule, and I won’t deal with it anymore,” said Hoffenheim’s coach. Ilzer instead congratulated the referee for a “very good performance in a difficult game”.