There were shambolic scenes im the Bundesliga last night when VAR once again reared its ugly head to disrupt the match between relegation-threatened Mainz and Freiburg at the Opel Arena.
Just went it looked like the match had reached the break without a goal for either side, referee Guido Winkmann brought all the players back out onto the pitch after deciding to award Mainz a retrospective penalty.
The whistle had already gone to signal half-time, but as the players made their way to the dressing rooms, Winkmann used VAR to review a handball claim and subsequently fetched them all back out again.
Pablo De Basis then scored the spot-kick for Mainz, only for all of the players to go trudging back down the tunnel again.
Drama in Mainz tonight. Referee blew for half-time, players made their way down the tunnel only to be called out again after he consulted VAR, awarding Mainz a penalty for a handball in the closing moments. Madness.pic.twitter.com/8Cu5zjuc1V
— Get German Football (@GGFN_) April 16, 2018
Dreadful. Just dreadful.
The game was then delayed for several minutes at the start of the second half as Mainz fans launched a protest against the German Football Federation – not for the ridiculous VAR decision that had gone before, but for having to play matches on Monday night.
And now the second half of Mainz vs Freiburg has been delayed because fans kept throwing toilet rolls into the goalmouth area to protest at games taking place on a Monday night. First VAR after HT, now this… #BUNDESLIGAxESPN pic.twitter.com/8o1r8M0fL8
— Mark Donaldson 🏴 (@DonaldsonESPN) April 16, 2018
Mainz eventually went on to win 2-0 thanks to a another, non-VAR-assisted goal from De Blasis.
The result moved the home side level on 30 points with Freiburg as the two sides (along with Wolfsburg, who are also on 30 points) continue in their quest to avoid ending up the Bundesliga’s relegation play-off place.