BERLIN: Bochum’s goalkeeper was struck on the head by an object apparently thrown from the stands at Union Berlin and both Bundesliga teams left the field on Saturday.
When the game resumed, they ran down the clock without trying to score.
Patrick Drewes was preparing to take a goalkick at 1-1 in added time when he was hit by an object with a similar size and shape to a cigarette lighter. He sat down and was given medical treatment.
The referee suspended the game and led both teams off the field.
Nearly half an hour later, the game resumed and Drewes was replaced by striker Philipp Hofmann. With about three minutes left of the game, both teams agreed to not try to score.
Players passed the ball around the field, walked and had conversations with opponents while waiting for the referee to declare the game over.
“Our coach and their coach, they discussed it together and the coach told us that we’ll go out there and bring the game to an end, and that’s what we did,” Hofmann told broadcaster Sky.
He indicated more than one lighter had been thrown around the time of the incident. Hofmann added Drewes was being treated by Bochum staff and that he didn’t know his condition.
“It’s not acceptable. No matter how hard he was struck, whether he’s bleeding or not, it’s just not appropriate,” he said.
Bochum chief executive Ilja Kaenzig said his club would file a formal protest over the result of the game, arguing that the referee should have it called after the incident. Union are likely to face disciplinary action over their hosting of the game, too.
Bochum had already made substitutions at three different points in the game, meaning it would not have been possible to bring on another goalkeeper to replace Drewes. Bochum finished the game with nine players because of Drewes’ absence and an earlier red card.
Union were 12th and Bochum last in the 18-team Bundesliga.
Goalkeeper struck by object so Bundesliga teams finish game without attacking
https://arab.news/89e8v
Goalkeeper struck by object so Bundesliga teams finish game without attacking
- Patrick Drewes was preparing to take a goalkick at 1-1 in added time when he was hit by an object
- Hofmann added Drewes was being treated by Bochum staff and that he didn’t know his condition
Bublik, Medvedev progress to second round of Dubai Tennis Championships
- Medvedev, the No. 3 seed this week, enjoyed a straight-sets victory over Juncheng Shang to set up last-16 tie with Swiss star Stan Wawrinka
- No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik needed only 66 minutes to see off Jan-Lennard Struff
DUBAI: Under the afternoon sun, the seeds blossomed. Day 2 of ATP 500 week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships started with Daniil Medvedev showing clinical efficiency to dispatch China’s Juncheng Shang in little more than an hour. The Russian, seeded third this week and champion here in 2023, moved through the match with confidence to seal a 6-1, 6-3 win and set-up a last-16 tie with Stan Wawrinka.
Shang, the 21-year-old ranked World No. 262, has offered flashes of promise in recent months despite the inevitable growing pains of a young professional. In early January, he reached the quarterfinals in Hong Kong, a result that hinted at an upward trajectory, but consistency has since proved elusive and he had lost three of his previous four matches, including a 4-6, 2-6 defeat to Medvedev last week in Doha.
The rematch provided little reversal of fortune as Medvedev struck 20 winners and 10 aces, dictating play from the baseline and rarely allowing rallies to drift beyond his control. On serve, the World No. 11 was especially untouchable, capturing 81 percent of his first-serve points over the course of the contest to condemn Shang to consecutive defeats in subsequent weeks.
“Of course, I tried to play the same tactic (as last week) because if it works, you need to stick to it,” Medvedev said. “I knew he would of course try to adapt some things, so I tried to adapt to his adaptations and did that quite well. I saw he was struggling a bit at the end, but until then, I thought it was a fair match, and we were playing some pretty good points.”
For all the scoreboard’s lopsided tilt, there were moments of resistance. Early in the first set, the pair engaged in a bruising 34-shot rally — one of the longest exchanges of the tournament to date — that drew murmurs from the appreciative crowd. It was Medvedev, the former world No. 1, who ultimately claimed the point.
Asked where he feels the level of his game is coming into a tournament that features four other former Dubai champions as well as eight of the world’s top 20, Medvedev suggested he is more content than confident.
“Actually, I shouldn’t judge myself too much just now,” he said. “I lost a couple of matches lately and whenever you do it, you always feel like you are playing worse. I should try to pump myself up instead. I won 6-1, 6-3, so if we don’t put every point under the microscope, it was a good level in general, I look forward to the next match and raising my level even more.”
Medvedev had barely finished his post-match media duties when Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, the world No. 10 and this week’s No. 2 seed, strolled onto the 5,000-capacity Centre Court to open his own campaign. Facing a “lucky loser” in Jan-Lennard Struff, Bublik was a picture of composure despite entering the tie on the wrong side of a 3-2 head-to-head record and having required three sets to get past the same opponent only a couple of weeks ago in Rotterdam.
Bublik, breaking his German opponent’s serve at the first opportunity, took an early 3-1 lead and refused to relinquish it, hitting six aces as well as saving three breakpoints. Battling throughout, Struff — ranked 70 places below his opponent in the world rankings — showed fight but could not level the tie. When his own service game was broken again in the ninth game, the first set went to Bublik 6-3.
Struff found his serve in the second set, hitting six aces of his own, but Bublik was not for budging and took his tally to 12 overall. With the set going with serve, the Kazakh eventually got the all-important break in the 10th to take the set 6-4 and seal comfortable passage to the second round.
“I think I played a solid match,” said Bublik, who lost in the Dubai final two years ago. “I mean, it's never easy to face Jan. I’m trailing a bit in the head-to-head, but I knew what I had to do. I knew what shots I have to execute to get more chances to win easily, and I think I did well in more important moments.”
Bublik is enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 10, but insisted he prefers to focus on his game, knowing the two factors are not mutually exclusive. “It’s just a number and if you play well, you’re going to have a better ranking,” he said. “If you start losing matches, the ranking is going to go down very quickly if everyone else plays well. So, for me, it’s more about keeping my game and enjoying the moment.”
