The Swiss coach saw his side concede a spot-kick in questionable fashion but was thankful it didn’t prove too costly
Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre has hit out at the decision to award Lazio a penalty in their 1-1 Champions League draw on Wednesday.
After Raphael Guerreiro had opened the scoring for Dortmund in the 44th minute, Lazio were handed a lifeline in the 67th minute after Nico Schulz was ruled to have fouled Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in the box as he went to clear the ball.
Replays showed little contact between the two as the Lazio midfielder seemingly made the most of the incident. The spot-kick was allowed to stand however, with Ciro Immobile making no mistake with his penalty.
Neither side would then be able to find a winner as Favre’s side secured their spot in the knockout stages with a point, but the coach was left to rue what was a controversial penalty decision in favour of Lazio.
“We had our chances to score the second goal. Then we concede an unnecessary penalty against us, which isn’t one,” Favre told Sky post-match.
“That’s incredible. That’s theatre, he is in a swimming pool. He exaggerates. But we are through to the next round. That’s the most important thing.”
Dortmund, who confirmed star striker Erling Haaland will be sidelined until the new year prior to the match, suffered another injury scare late in the match with veteran centre-back Mats Hummels forced from the field.
Club director Michael Zorc is hopeful that Hummels won’t join Dortmund’s growing injury list after chatting with the 31-year-old following the full-time whistle.
“I spoke to him briefly, we hope it was just a knock on his foot. We hope that he will be able to recover quickly and that no ligaments have been damaged,” Zorc said.
“We have a few [injured] players on our hands and we hope that he will be able to play again this weekend.”
Dortmund next face Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Saturday before rounding out their Champions League group campaign against Zenit in Russia next week.
Favre’s side have had an inconsistent season to date and are currently fourth in Germany‘s top-flight – four points behind league leaders and fierce rivals Bayern Munich.
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