FC Koln's tweet to 'God' sparks epic banter
FC Koln made a last ditch plea for divine intervention as the goals rained down in the 5-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund.
With the dust barely settling on Patrick Aubameyang's second goal to give the home side a 4-0 win inside an hour, FC Koln reached for some divine intervention, demanding to know from Twitter user @God, "what have we done?".
The social media community, with the official account for Bayer Leverkusen among its number, didn't miss the opportunity to reply, with a number of suggestions put forward, from 'losing to Arsenal' to 'not rebuilding effectively in the transfer window' chief among them.
While the deity stayed silent, Dortmund's fury continued unabated, Maximilian Philipp scoring his second to complete the 5-0 rout.
The banter online was flowing, but the fallout from the match offline took on a sterner edge, with Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke criticising Koln's call for a replay of the game, branding the beaten visitor bad loser.
Koln is protesting the result on the grounds of the involvement of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in awarding Dortmund's second goal, scored by defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos after Timo Horn spilled a corner.
Referee Patrick Ittrich originally waved away the goal due to an apparent foul, before reversing the decision in consultation with the VAR.
Koln sporting director Jorg Schmadtke claims Ittrich's initial call should have stood due to it being made before the ball had crossed the line.
"We want to protest," Schmadtke told Sky Sport Germany. "It was an irregular decision against the rules, which is why we are seeking for the match to be replayed."
Dortmund chief Watzke quickly slammed the request, telling Sky: "To protest after losing 5-0 is the strong attitude of a bad loser."
Speaking at his post-match news conference, Dortmund coach Peter Bosz sympathised with the frustration of the opposition.
"I understand the anger of conceding a goal right before half-time," Bosz said.
"We watched it afterwards and I do not think there was any player who stopped playing because of the whistle, because the ball was on its way and almost inside the goal.
"But I do understand the situation is annoying [for Cologne]."
