Despite taking a 2-0 lead, FC St. Gallen lose against Servette - but the late VAR penalty in particular sparks a heated debate in the blue Sport studio.
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- St. Gallen squandered a 2-0 lead against Servette and ended up losing 4-2, costing the eastern Swiss side the lead over league leaders Thun.
- A controversial VAR penalty in the 80th minute causes heated discussions in the blue Sport studio.
- While referee expert Grossen can understand the decision, Pascal Zuberbühler thinks: "No penalty, certainly not."
FC St. Gallen suffered a bitter defeat at home against Servette. Despite leading 2-0 after 15 minutes, the team from eastern Switzerland ended up losing 2-4. FCSG thus lost ground in the table to leaders Thun, who are already nine points ahead with one game in hand. Lugano also overtook St. Gallen at the weekend thanks to a win.
A decision in the 80th minute was the main talking point in Geneva's late turnaround: after an aerial duel in the FCSG penalty area, referee Mirel Turkes initially allowed play to continue, but then VAR Johannes von Mandach intervened and brought the referee in front of the screen. Turkes recognizes a foul by Colin Kleine-Bekel on Miroslav Stevanovic and awards a penalty, which Jérémy Guillemenot converts to make it 2:2.
The scene is hotly debated in the blue Sport studio. The refereeing expert Bruno Grossen, who joins the game, explains that he considers it to be a penalty: "The defender simply sticks out his elbow. The fact that you have your elbow out a bit when you jump up is okay for me, but extending your elbow so dangerously as a tool into the opponent's face is actually a yellow card and a penalty."
Although Grossen understands the decision, he says: "I don't know if it's an on-field review and the VAR has to come in." He is prepared to discuss it, but maintains that it was a foul: "If you're a striker and you get elbowed in the face like that, then you complain."
Zubi has no understanding for the decision
Blue Sport expert Pascal Zuberbühler has a completely different opinion. "I'm going crazy. The ball comes to the back of the second post and the defender jumps up. To head the ball forward, the elbows go backwards and Stevanovic comes from behind. As a player, you can always jump into the elbow."
While this is a normal movement for Zubi, Grossen replies: "He can use his elbow minimally, but he can't push it out." Zuberbühler replies: "But Bruno, now let's look at his height. That's also a difference, Stevanovic is smaller. The defender automatically has his elbows higher up and can't even see him from behind." The referee expert then states once again: "But the defender must not extend to this extent, it's simply dangerous."
The second studio expert, Pascal Schürpf, then joins in: "Does that mean you're no longer allowed to extend your elbows, but have to jump up like a penguin? Stevanovic has no chance of getting to the ball and then jumps into the elbow. This means that from now on we can simply jump into the elbow as a smaller player."
Grossen then asks the two ex-players if it wasn't a foul for them at all and Zubi immediately replies: "No penalty, certainly not." Schürpf explains: "I was whistled for a lot of things like that. Because I was also tall and jumped up and then a smaller player just jumped into my elbow."
As the experts and big players continue to discuss whether elbowing is allowed or not, presenter Gianni Wyler states at one point: "I'm afraid we can no longer find a consensus between the rules and the players' practice on the pitch."
