Leon Andreasen scored with his arm to give Hannover 96 a controversial 1-0 win at Cologne in the Bundesliga on Sunday, denying the home side the chance to go fourth.
Cologne had the better of the first half, but the visitors went ahead in the 38th when Andreasen knocked the ball in with his right arm after a corner. The goal was given despite the home side’s protests.
“It’s annoying,” Cologne general manager Joerg Schmadtke said. “If 48,700 people can see it, the four match officials have to see it too.”
Photo: AFP
Andreasen ran over to his coach Michael Frontzeck after scoring and the two spent a short while in close conversation before the Danish midfielder ran back to his position.
Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn was incensed.
“I expected a clear whistle from the referee,” Horn said. “We were robbed of a point by an irregular goal. There’s no doubt about it.”
Cologne forward Anthony Modest forced goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler into action midway through the second half. Milos Jojic was next to test him from a free-kick, and the Hannover goalkeeper went on to make another good save from Modeste to safeguard all three points.
Daniel Didavi’s second half-strike was enough for VfB Stuttgart to climb off the bottom with a 1-0 win over promoted Ingolstadt 04 in the late game.
That too was an irregular goal with TV replays showing Didavi was in an offside position before he deflected Florian Klein’s shot in the 59th minute.
“Everything went against us today,” Ingolstadt coach Ralph Hasenhuettl said.
Stuttgart captain Martin Harnik had given away a penalty in the third minute, but Polish goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton saved Mathew Leckie’s poorly struck spot-kick.
It was Stuttgart’s first win at home after four defeats and it lifted the side to 15th, with Augsburg now bottom.
“We’re making little steps,” Stuttgart sporting director Robin Dutt said.
Ingolstadt dropped to eighth after their first defeat away.
Bayern Munich lead by seven points after starting the season with a Bundesliga record nine victories.
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