Grossly unsportsmanlike, long suspension ?: Thuram spits from centimeters directly in the face

Saturday 19th December 2020

Grossly unsporting, long suspension?
Thuram spits straight in the face from inches

Borussia Mönchengladbach continues to lose ground in the Bundesliga. The excitement of the game against Hoffenheim occurs shortly before the end when Gladbach's star striker Marcus Thuram spits directly in the face of his opponent from a very short distance. A violent attack, especially during Corona times.

Borussia Mönchengladbach continues to lose ground in the Bundesliga. The team of coach Marco Rose lost against TSG Hoffenheim 1: 2 (1: 0) and after a series of four games without a win are further outside of the European Cup places.

Lars Stindl (34th, penalty kick) brought the five-time German champions into the lead. Striker Andrej Kramaric (75th) equalized for Hoffenheim, Ryan Sessegnon (86th) scored the guests' winner. Gladbach striker Marcus Thuram also expects a longer suspension: The French spit in Stefan Posch's face from a very short distance. The referee Frank Willenborg did not see the scene at first, but the VAR stepped in and Thuram saw red (78th). Especially in Corona times, the spitting attack – already grossly unsportsmanlike – is likely to cause a lot of talk and possibly have serious consequences.

"That doesn't work of course, we don't have to talk about it," said Borussia professional Christoph Kramer at Sky: "It's hard to explain an action like that." The 2014 world champion was also accused of having had a spit attack against Sebastian Rode from Frankfurt, but the investigation was closed. Teammate Valentino Lazaro called Thuram's action "the broken neck". Coach Rose apologized for the disgusting spit attack of his striker "also on behalf of the club". Such an action "doesn't belong on the soccer field," said the coach, adding: "He's a fine boy, very well-bred. His fuses have blown. That's the only way I can explain it to myself."

Hard game

From the beginning, a hard-fought game developed in Borussia-Park. Both teams attacked the opponent early, many fouls hampered the flow of the game. The hosts combined more pleasantly in the mostly narrow spaces, but Hoffenheim had the first chances. A header from Florian Grillitsch (9th) just missed his goal, as did a free kick from Robert Skov (18th).

After 20 minutes, the Gladbachers increased the number of strokes and became more dangerous. After Stefan Lainer won the ball nicely, Breel Embolo (21st minute) pulled away, eleven minutes later the Swiss international should have taken the lead. After a dream pass from Florian Neuhaus, Embolo ran from the center line alone towards the TSG goal, but the striker failed his nerves alone in front of goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.

Stindl kept this. The captain, who on Friday extended his contract by two years until 2023, was sure to take the lead from the penalty spot. Dennis Geiger had previously brought down Thuram in an unnecessary action. Hoffenheim struggled in this phase, the guests afforded too many inaccuracies. Still, they almost equalized before the break. Kramaric only hit the post from 17 meters (36th).

Thuram could be suspended for five games

Even after the change, the playful highlights were missing, but the will was also noticeable in both teams at the end of exhausting months. Stindl's long-range shot was no problem for Baumann (58th). On the other hand, Sommer was there against Christoph Baumgartner (60th) and Grillitsch (65th). But then TSG struck twice.

But there will still be a lot of talk about the Thuram spitting attack, which is likely to result in a long suspension. At the beginning of the season, Schalke's Ozan Kabak spat on Werder Bremen's Ludwig Augustinsson, who was lying on the ground, and was suspended for five games. In addition, he had to pay a fine of 15,000 euros at the time. At the beginning of the corona pandemic, there were spitting attacks in several places in Germany, for example against police officers, which may even be classified as bodily harm or dangerous bodily harm.