Amine Adli was twice booked for diving, had the yellow card rescinded both times, and Bayer Leverkusen scored twice from the resulting penalties to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 on Sunday. The win left Borussia Dortmund top of the Bundesliga.
Referee Tobias Stieler had VAR to thank — twice — after getting it wrong, reports AP.
He apologized to Adli on each occasion after consulting replays showing the French player had, in fact, been fouled first by Benjamin Pavard, then Dayot Upamecano.
Exequiel Palacios scored both penalties to end Bayern’s four-game winning run across all competitions and leave Dortmund one point clear with nine rounds remaining. Bayern next hosts Dortmund on April 1.
Leverkusen threatened more in the early stages with Bayern relying on goalkeeper Yann Sommer to deny Kerem Demirbay and Alphonso Davies to clear from the lurking Jeremie Frimpong.
Joshua Kimmich scored with Bayern’s first attack in the 22nd. A deflection took the ball past the helpless Lukáš Hrádecký in the Leverkusen goal.
Pavard then conceded the first penalty. Stieler initially booked Adli for diving, then changed his mind after seeing video replays showing how Pavard caught his compatriot’s boot with his studs.
Adli actually lost his boot and flung it to the ground in frustration after being booked. But Stieler withdrew the yellow card after seeing the replays.
Source: Bahrain News Agency