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Striker Erling Haaland fumed at referee Felix Zwayer over his decision not to award Borussia Dortmund a penalty in their 3-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in a crucial top-of-the-table clash in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Dortmund had two claims for a penalty in a match that saw manager Marco Rose sent off with a second booking for dissent, but referee Zwayer refused both times to review the claims, most notably when winger Marco Reus went down in the box after a tussle with opposing defender Lucas Hernandez.
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“I think it was a scandal when it comes to the referee,” Haaland told ViaPlay. “I asked him [Zwayer] ‘why didn’t you just go and look?’ He said: ‘No, there is no need.’
“I need to calm down a little bit now. He was arrogant, and I will not say more.”
Lewandowski scored the disputed winner from the spot in the 78th minute, after referee Zwayer awarded the penalty following a VAR check. Zwayer penalized Mats Hummels for handball after Serge Gnabry‘s corner struck the Dortmund defender’s elbow as he appeared to stumble.
Zwayer said he saw Hummels’ elbow make contact with the ball, but he was not sure whether the elbow was in or out, so he checked the video footage. He said it was not necessary to check Reus’ penalty appeal because he had a clear view of the incident and the video referee watching in Cologne did not contradict his decision.
“I had a very clear and unambiguous impression that was ultimately checked and also confirmed on the monitor in Cologne,” Zwayer said.
Dortmund midfielder Emre Can made his frustrations with the referee clear after the match, saying: “It’s a shame that such a crappy penalty decides the game. I’m sorry I have to say that.
“I stand here and talk again about a referee’s decision. We played a great game today and then this happens.”
Dortmund midfielder Julian Brandt opened the scoring when he found the top right corner of the goal in the fifth minute before Bayern forward Thomas Muller chased down a poor touch from Hummels to set up Lewandowski, who equalized.
Bayern winger Kingsley Coman put his side ahead on the stroke of half-time with a deflected shot, but Haaland hit back in the second half to level the scores.
Lewandowski — who ranked the top striker in ESPN FC 100 — then scored a spot kick, his 11th league goal in eight games this season.
Information from Associated Press contributed to this report.