Düsseldorf boss takes swipe at referee for “absolutely ridiculous” red card

Here’s what Fortuna’s sporting director had to say in his post-match interview.

In the wake of Fortuna Düsseldorf’s 5-1 defeat to Arminia Bielefeld, sporting director Klaus Allofs has lashed out at match referee Patrick Alt’s standard of officiating.  

Fortuna comfortably led 1-0 until the 44th-minute before Tim Oberdorf was dismissed for a second bookable offense – a seemingly harsh call for a light tug of Joel Grodowski’s jersey.

“This [red card] is absolutely ridiculous. The first yellow card – you have to live with that. I can still understand that, and it was in line with the calls until then.

“But to then give a yellow-red card for that is absolutely ridiculous. I think it was the wrong decision,” Allofs said, in a televised outburst on Sky Germany.

“The sending off and the subsequent 1-1 draw put us on the losing path,” was the 68-year-old’s conclusion, alluding to Noah Sarenren Bazee’s equaliser that instantly followed the red card. 

On the other hand, Arminia Bielefeld felt quite the opposite – their return to the 2.Bundesliga was marked with a glorious victory as striker Julian Kania expressed his happiness.

“Everything happened at the right time. The yellow-red card, then the equalizer so close to halftime. After the break we got a penalty less than ten minutes later,” Kania summarized.