"I don't know what the video referee does for a living, but today he apparently wasn't looking," said the FSV Mainz 05 centre-back. For him, Bayer Leverkusen's Jarell Quansah's goal (55), after striker Patrik Schick had got the ball onto his hand, was a "decisive point".
Posch called it "clearly" a punishable offence after the 4-3 (2-2) home defeat against the Werkself. He admitted he needed to "look at it again, but from what I heard, he takes the ball with him very advantageously. If that's not handball, I don't know what it is." Schick had controlled the ball after it bounced directly from his stomach onto his hand and from there to Quansah, who first saw his shot saved and then headed in the rebound.
Speaking about referee Max Burda, Posch said he had not spoken with him himself, "but he told Nadiem Amiri it was not handball," said the Austrian. The offence, it seems, was not judged to have come immediately before the goal. "I was told that if the goalscorer plays the ball with his hand, it probably would have been one," said Mainz sporting director Niko Bungert. "According to the rules, it would therefore probably be a legitimate goal." Even so, it was "very bitter and feels unfair".
On the touchline, Mainz coach Urs Fischer had protested after the goal and during the VAR review, but he avoided the debate after the match. "I shouldn't speak about the referee today," said Fischer, and instead looked for the reasons within his own side: "Our game simply wasn't good enough today, so we need to talk about the mistakes we made today."