Borussia Dortmund benefited from a wrong decision by referee Harm Osmers in their hard-fought 2:1 home victory against SV Elversberg. The official acknowledged after the final whistle that he should have at least cautioned Daniel Svensson early in the match, and possibly even sent him off.

Referee Harm Osmers admitted to a wrong decision during Borussia Dortmund's match against Elversberg that could potentially have been costly for the Dortmund side.

According to his own account, the official misjudged Daniel Svensson's unfortunate challenge in a duel with Lukas Pinckert in the middle of the first half. The Borussia Dortmund player had clearly struck his opponent above the ankle and did not even receive a yellow card. Osmers explained in a Sky interview after reviewing the footage that there was no yellow card because he had barely perceived the incident on the pitch. He described it more as a trip. He acknowledged that it was certainly at least a yellow card offense. Osmers added that more than just a yellow card would have been possible, noting that it was certainly a scene on the borderline where a red card could also be discussed.

Kovac admits: Borussia Dortmund had "luck"

At least on one point, Niko Kovac agreed with the official. The decision was wrong, and Svensson's challenge was clearly worthy of a caution. Kovac stated that it was very unfortunate, but it was a foul. He emphasized that it must be said clearly that Svensson struck the opponent above the ankle. He added that they cannot complain and are fortunate about it. He noted that it could have gone differently and must be said clearly. The Borussia Dortmund manager relativized the situation by noting that Svensson did not intentionally make such a hard challenge. He explained that Svensson wanted to go for the ball and at that moment the opponent came and put his foot in or cleared the ball. He described it as a fraction of a second, stating that in this situation they had luck that no card was given.