Mainz’s Bundesliga match against Freiburg could be set for a place in the record books after the home side scored just under seven minutes into half-time – and after the players had been allowed to leave the pitch.
In the dying seconds of the first half, Mainz had an appeal for handball turned down by the referee Guido Winkmann, with the scores still at 0-0. Winkmann then blew for the break, allowing the players to go in for half-time – only for the VAR official to give the handball and award a penalty.
Following a delay of almost five minutes, Freiburg’s players had to be summoned from the dressing room after it was ruled that Daniel Brosinski’s cross had been handled by Marc-Oliver Kempf. Six minutes and 44 seconds after the first 45 minutes were up, Pablo de Blasis stroked home the spot kick to put his side a goal up and to allow both teams to head back off the pitch for half-time again.
"I'm sure that is historic. I've never seen anything like it!"
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 16, 2018
Unprecedented scenes in Germany as VAR awarded a penalty after the half-time whistle had been blown 😮 pic.twitter.com/WxtEMhaXMJ
The chaotic scenes did little to appease fans who had protested against Monday night football by bombarding the pitch with toilet rolls at the start of each half, forcing the second half to be delayed by 10 minutes.
De Blasis was on target again in the second half, just about, and sealed a 2-0 win for Mainz when his shot at an open goal bounced in off the post in the 78th minute. It allowed Mainz to move above free-falling Freiburg in the table and up to 15th, ending their own six-game winless run in the process.
The VAR system has been used in the Bundesliga this season but not without controversy as it has been at the centre of several disputed decisions.
