Bizarre VAR decision means Freiburg pay penalty during half-time at Mainz
Mainz benefited from a bizarre penalty decision which helped to seal a controversial 2-0 victory over fellow strugglers Freiburg in the Bundesliga.
Freiburg's players had already disappeared down the tunnel for half-time when referee Guido Winkmann referred a potential penalty to the video assistant referee.
Following a delay of around five minutes, Winkmann recalled the visiting players to give the spot-kick after ruling that Daniel Brosinski's cross had been handled by Marc-Oliver Kempf.
Pablo de Blasis duly converted from 12 yards in the seventh minute of first-half added time to give Mainz the lead amid total confusion at the Opel Arena.
The game also had to be delayed at the start of both halves as fans protested against the match being played on a Monday night.
Freiburg striker Tim Kleindienst almost scored a spectacular own goal with his head but the crossbar came to his rescue in the 62nd minute.
Kleindienst, on as a half-time substitute, nearly equalised with a header at the right end moments later but the visitors were made to pay in the 78th minute.
Freiburg goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow gifted possession to Robin Quaison and De Blasis breathed a sigh of relief as his shot at an open goal went in agonisingly off the post.
Nils Petersen hit the woodwork for the visitors late on but it was already too late as Christian Streich's side stretched their run without a win to seven games.
Mainz moved above free-falling Freiburg in the table and up to 15th, ending their own six-game winless run in the process.
