Bochum awarded second Bundesliga win after goalie struck by firelighter

BERLIN (AP) — The German soccer federation’s sports court has awarded Bochum a 2-0 victory over Union Berlin after the team’s goalkeeper was struck by a firelighter during their Bundesliga match in December.

It’s just Bochum’s second win of the season.

Stephan Oberholz, the chairman of the court, said on Thursday that the court had to assume that “Bochum goalkeeper Patrick Drewes was injured by a lighter being thrown at his head and was thus limited in his ability to play. This led to a weakening of the Bochum team, which was caused by a Berlin spectator and, according to the federation’s legal and procedural rules, is therefore attributable to Union Berlin.”

The match on Dec. 14 finished 1-1 after Drewes was struck by the object while preparing to take a goalkick in added time. Referee Martin Petersen suspended the game and led both teams off the field after Drewes sat down and received medical treatment.

Drewes was replaced by striker Philipp Hofmann when the game resumed nearly half an hour later. Both teams agreed to not try to score for the remaining three minutes.

Bochum chief executive Ilja Kaenzig said at the time his club would file a formal protest over the result, arguing the referee should not have restarted it.

Union can still appeal the sports court’s decision within one week.

“The ruling contradicts our legal opinion that the match ended properly with a sporting result of 1-1 according to the referee’s decision,” Union spokesman Christian Arbeit said.

Arbeit added the club will decide whether to appeal once it has the court’s written reasons for its decision.

The win would lift Bochum off the bottom of the division, while Union would remain 12th in the 18-team division.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer