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Yan Couto has to be stretchered off the pitch.
Keystone
The cup match between Essen and Dortmund was virtually over when a violent foul occurred. BVB coach Niko Kovac finds clear words.
Niko Kovac was served. The violent foul by Essen's Kelsey Owusu against his professional player Yan Couto really upset the Borussia Dortmund head coach. "I have to be honest: you don't go there like that. I don't want to accuse him of intent, but that's negligent, that's grossly negligent. It's actually an assault," Kovac said on ARD after the laborious 1-0 win at third-division club Rot-Weiss Essen.
Winger Couto had to be stretchered off the pitch after the final whistle. He is in danger of being ruled out. BVB is already weakened in defense and at the back.
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"I hope it's not too serious, he's in a lot of pain, we'll have to wait for the examination, but I'm still confident that it's probably just a very bad bruise," said Kovac. In the press conference, the coach reported: "Yan is now in the dressing room and has an ice pack on his knee."
Owusu was shown a yellow card for the violent tackle. A correction to a sending-off by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is not possible because he is not available in rounds one and two of the DFB Cup. Essen coach Uwe Koschinat criticized: "It's unforgivable when a player gets in so hard."
Dortmund's sporting director Sebastian Kehl also addressed the foul. He initially spoke of "a clear red card". When he had finished his remarks in the interview zone, Kehl turned back to the journalists and added with a serious expression that it had been "a brutal foul".
For a long time on Monday evening, it was impossible to tell the difference between the third division club with a squad worth seven million euros and the star-studded Champions League club. Gregor Kobel had to prevent the team from falling behind or equalizing several times.
A good six weeks after their respectable performance in the Club World Cup draw against Real Madrid, the internationally ambitious BVB were hardly recognizable - they were in danger of an embarrassment in round one, the likes of which the club had last experienced in August 2005 at Eintracht Braunschweig. Serhou Guirassy finally redeemed Dortmund in the 79th minute with his dry shot to make it 1-0.
