Although he denied Bayern Munich a goal: Augsburg goal hero hits out at VAR

Augsburg’s 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich produced stories without end: from Manuel Neuer’s historic blunder to four (!) disallowed goals for the visitors from Munich.

"Yes, it was very good that he was involved," Robin Fellhauer said in the mixed zone at the Augsburg Arena when asked for his opinion on the VAR, "otherwise we would have lost 6-2."

The 28-year-old midfielder had just written Bundesliga history with his goal after just over eight seconds. But he then made it clear he has major issues with the video referee and the way supposed wrong decisions are handled.

"It's dreadful. On one occasion it took five minutes or so. It's simply annoying. In that case it was good for us that it was offside, but there is a very high level of tension," Fellhauer said, offering an insight into the mindset of the players, for whom the stoppages demand a great deal of patience.

Which decisions did VAR make in FC Bayern's match?

He also took aim at the lack of transparency and clarity around the calls: "You have no idea what exactly it's about because no one talks to you. It says offside up there, but you don't really know what actually happened. That's why it's irritating at times."

VAR got it right three times. The goals from Serge Gnabry (73rd), Luis Diaz (75th) and Gnabry again (90+6) were all ruled out for offside. The supposed 1-1, though, from Diaz's overhead kick at the start of the second half (51st) should probably have stood. That, at any rate, is the view of Munich sporting director Max Eberl, who is of course biased, but also of referee expert Patrick Ittrich, as he explained on Sky.

So the match ended 2-2, with Harry Kane, Ricardo Ribeiro and Nene Brown also scoring legitimate goals alongside Fellhauer.

Afterwards, Fellhauer also explained that his pressing straight after Bayern's kick-off had been planned exactly that way in the hope that Neuer might make a mistake under pressure. It paid off. Augsburg are within touching distance of the top with a strong eight points from five matches, while Bayern, with only two points more, are temporarily the closest challengers to leaders BVB (11).