THE FUSE

Let’s recap the situation: in the 55th minute, whilst attempting to win the ball back with a sliding tackle, Nmecha accidentally collided with referee Bastian Dankert and knocked him to the ground. Play was halted for a few minutes to allow the referee to recover from the blow to his back; shortly afterwards, he got back to his feet and resumed the match. After the match, amid general laughter, he handed the Dortmund player a red card on which he wrote ‘think twice about your tackles’, along with the date and match details. Nmecha commented on the incident with a touch of irony: ‘I wasn’t hurt; I think the only ones who suffered were his shoulders; otherwise, I would have got the ball. I hope he’s alright.’