Referee forced to give two penalties after players pick up the ball in bizarre separate incidents during same match
A REFEREE was forced to give two penalties after players from both teams bizarrely picked the ball up in separate incidents.
In the German second division, Magdeburg drew 2-2 with Greuther Furth on Sunday.
The first unusual moment of the match came with just 15 minutes on the clock to hand the hosts a spot-kick.
Furth defender Gideon Jung had a moment of madness, picking the ball up off the ground in the six-yard box after it was rolled to him by goalkeeper Nahuel Noll.
He seemingly thought it was given to him to take a goal-kick – but with the ball not having gone out of play, the ref had no choice but to hand Magdeburg a penalty.
Jung thought his blushes were spared when Noll saved the spot-kick, only for Mo El Hankouri to score the rebound.
But in crazy scenes, lightening struck twice when just after half-time Magdeburg star Daniel Heber copied Jung and picked up the ball.
He appeared to think the ref had blown for a foul on the edge of his own box – yet in fact he had not and it was therefore a clear penalty.
Ex-Bayern Munich star Julian Green stepped up and scored to make it 2-1.
And the goal inspired a Furth fightback as they fought back to earn a point.
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Fans were baffled by the incidents, with one saying: “To have this happen at all is fairly crazy to begin with, to have this happen twice within 30 minutes in the same match is completely absurd.”
Another added: “This is insane.”
Others were reminded of when Arsenal’s Gabriel got away with a similar incident in the Champions League versus Bayern Munich last year.
Why would he pick it up? It HAS to be a penalty, says Halsey
By Mark Halsey
Arsenal could have absolutely no complaints if a penalty was awarded to Bayern Munich.
The referee signalled for David Raya to take the goal kick.
He did… and Gabriel picked the ball up. Why would he do that? The whistle had been blown.
The only person who has made a mistake is Gabriel. Why would he pick the ball up?
Once the referee has blown his whistle and Gabriel has picked it up, he has to give a penalty.