The young Borussia Dortmund starlet was scathing in his review of the referee’s performance during ‘Der Klassiker’ derby against league title rivals Bayern Munich
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Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham pulled no punches in his criticism of the referee in the wake of his side’s defeat to Bayern Munich.
The ‘Black and Yellows’ were beaten 3-2 at home by Julian Nagelsmann ‘s side, though the contest was not without its drama.
After two goals from Bayern turned the tie on its head following Julian Brandt’s fifth minute opener, Erling Haaland scored a delightful right-footed effort that curled beyond the despairing dive of Manuel Neuer to level things up.
However, the visitors were to be presented with a glorious chance to restore their lead after match official Felix Zwayer adjudged Mats Hummels to have handled the ball inside his area with under 15 minutes to play.
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As expected, Robert Lewandowski made no mistake from 12-yards, converting to notch his second of the game and Bayern’s third.
In the aftermath of the decision, Dortmund boss Marco Rose was shown a second yellow card for protesting the call, only heightening the home side’s sense of injustice.
While Rose got his punishment out of the way during the game, Bellingham is now likely to face one for his post-match remarks, in which he addresses the officials past record of convicted match-fixing.
Pressed on whether he thought it was a penalty by ViaPlay, the former Birmingham star replied: “For me it wasn’t, you know he’s [Hummels] not even looking at the ball and he’s fighting to get it.
“It hits him, I don’t even think he is looking at the ball but you know, you can look at a lot of the other decisions in the game.
“You give a referee that, you know, has match-fixed before the biggest game in Germany, what do you expect?”
Bellingham’s comments refer to the fact that in 2005, Zwayer was involved in the match fixing scandal which centred around 2. Bundesliga referee Robert Hoyzer.
Hoyzer took bribes to fix several matches which he officiated, including one that Zwayer was an assistant in.
In that same fixture, Zwayer accepted a bribe of €300 to look favourably upon German minnows Wuppertaler SV, though he and three other officials eventually came clean over their actions.
His career has since recovered and in 2018, Zwayer was chosen by FIFA as one of the video assistant referees for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
For Dortmund, Saturday night’s result leaves them second in the Bundesliga table – four points adrift of rivals Bayern at the top after 14 games played.
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