Having just returned from injury himself, VfB Stuttgart attacker Deniz Undav wasn’t in the greatest mood after a second consecutive hard fought victory against Mainz 05 in the DFB Pokal last night. The two teams – having just had a scrappy encounter in the Bundesliga – had to contest the second round of Germany’s domestic cup only three days later. 

Stuttgart won both encounters. Undav, among the many players booked in the highly physical affair, didn’t much care for the work of Mainz defender Dominik ‘hard’ Kohr. The notorious collector of Bundesliga bookings should have been sent off in Undav’s opinion. Undav specifically criticized experienced match official Deniz Aytekin.

“Mainz wanted to show a reaction [to Sunday’s loss] and committed a lot of fouls,” Undav told Sky Germany “They constantly kicked us. We didn’t let it get to us and held our ground. Kohr was just fouling all the time, especially after his yellow card. He committed two, three, four more fouls, which eventually got me upset because as a referee you have to put a stop to that at some point.

“I got progressively louder, then deservedly got a yellow card [for dissent],” Undav continued. “I’m not complaining about that. But, they were nasty in the tackles and at some point, as a ref, you have to put a stop to it and hand out a yellow-red card. He [Kohr] is also known for injuring people. That’s why he should be punished for it at some point.“