By CNN
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Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels was left raging at what he called “a joke of a penalty” after the team’s 1-1 draw with PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
Former PSV youth player Donyell Malen came back to haunt his old club as he opened the scoring for Dortmund in the first half, squeezing the ball in at the near post from an improbably tight angle.
Buoyed by a raucous home crowd, watching their side in the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in eight years, the Dutch side had several opportunities to level the score but was unable to find the breakthrough until the penalty arrived 10 minutes into the second half.
With Malik Tillman advancing into the box, Hummels slid in and clearly won the ball before following through on the attacker.
However, referee Srđan Jovanović immediately pointed to the spot and Luuk de Jong stepped up and confidently buried the penalty kick.
“Twitter waits for it. Twitter gets it. What a joke of a penalty against us. Again! I cannot believe there can be decisions like today or against Chelsea or PSG with the VAR,” Hummels posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the match.
According to TNT Sports, Jovanović wasn’t told by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to go and rewatch the incident on the pitch-side monitor, something pundits Glenn Hoddle and Joleon Lescott could not understand.
“Personally, I think he should be sent to the screens to have a little look himself,” Hoddle said on TNT. “It’s a 50-50 call. Some refs would give it and some wouldn’t, this is where I think technology comes in.
“Go and have a look and make your own decision. If he looks at it again and says, ‘No that’s a penalty,’ or actually, ‘From my angle, I didn’t see it like that, I won’t give it.’ It’s 50-50.”
While Hoddle was unsure of the decision, Lescott was adamant it should not have been a penalty.
“I definitely agree that he should be looking himself,” Lescott said. “I don’t think anyone should be making the decision for him. They’re [VARs] getting the opportunity to look at every angle.
“I definitely feel he touches enough of the ball for that not to be a penalty. They might as well give the referee that’s made the decision the opportunity to make the right decision anyway in his opinion.
“If he looks at other angles, he may see it a different way. I think he thinks, initially, Hummels makes contact on the foot as he’s kicking the ball, but there’s no contact on that foot.”
The two teams play the return leg in Germany on March 13.
