Mark Otten could hardly believe what he had seen after the goalless draw between Jong FC Utrecht and FC Eindhoven (0-0). The coach of the Utrecht reserves watched Emmanuel Owen go down heavily after a challenge from goalkeeper Jort Borgmans, but to his surprise FC Eindhoven were awarded the free-kick.
The flashpoint came when Owen broke through towards the visitors' goal. Borgmans raced off his line, missed the ball and caught the Jong FC Utrecht forward, after which referee Joshua Kuipers blew for a free-kick in Eindhoven's favour.
Otten could only look on in disbelief afterwards. "I see that a foul is committed and that the referee makes a miraculous decision," the coach told ESPN's camera.
Kuipers' view was that Owen had looked for the contact with the goalkeeper. "According to the referee, our player looked for the goalkeeper," said Otten, before he could no longer suppress his laughter.
Even so, Otten did not want to criticise the referee too harshly. "Let me start by saying that the referee does not judge that wrongly on purpose. Of course, we also have the luxury of being able to look back at the footage afterwards."
For Otten, though, one thing was clear: Jong Utrecht had been hard done by. "But it is of course a very wrong assessment. That disadvantages us, but I do not blame him for it. He does not do it on purpose."
Borgmans also faced the camera afterwards and gave his version of events. "I saw that I could get to the ball earlier than the striker. The ball bounced slightly higher than I had anticipated. I think that is why I slipped a little as I pushed off. Then I go under the ball and come into contact with the striker."
The goalkeeper admitted he was mainly shocked because he missed the ball completely. "I had a suspicion that he was offside and I was hoping for that. In my view there was still a defender next to him. I still have to watch it back." The Keuken Kampioen Divisie match ultimately ended without goals: 0-0.