In his angry speech about what he considered to be a third-hand spoiled Dortmund football evening, the volume of the prosecutor Sebastian Kehl increased continuously in his almost five-minute suada. The sporting director of BVB was angry, about the management of Sascha Stegemann, whom he blamed for the disappointing 1-1 draw of the Bundesliga leaders in the Revierderby at relegation-threatened VfL Bochum.

"Things weren't right today," emphasized the otherwise level-headed Kehl late on Friday evening in his unbridled anger when looking at the referee, who was wrong at least once – and possibly decisive for the game.

In the 38th minute, the 65-year-old graduate in public administration from the Rhineland town of Niederkassel had overlooked a clearly visible foul by Bochum left-back Danilo Soares, who had already been warned, on the lively Dortmund attacker Karim Adeyemi in the VfL penalty area. In a touch of self-importance, the referee had not even sought contact with the Bavarian video assistant (VAR) Robert Hartmann, who had also remained inactive on his own initiative: no foul penalty for Dortmund and no yellow-red card for Soares.

FC Bayern can overtake BVB

Kehl was outraged by the ignorance of the game masters and found it "cheeky" of Stegemann "not to have looked at this scene with the tools that are available today". "I think that's negligent, cowardly and completely wrong," said the BVB sporting director about a moment missed by Stegemann, which may decide the outcome of the German football championship.

First of all, defending champions Bayern Munich can take the lead in the table again this Sunday (15.30 CET in the F.A.Z. live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN) with a home win over the bottom of the table Hertha BSC. However, in the 2022/23 Bundesliga season, which is rich in bangs and moments of surprise, the four matchdays before the end of this eventful season after years of monotony does not have to be the last word.

Kehl had two other case studies of Stegemann's inadequate game management, but they weighed less heavily. For example, he lamented the push of Bochum striker giant Philipp Hofmann on Dortmund's Emre Can with a header just before Bochum's opening goal, a long-range shot worth seeing by VfL captain Anthony Losilla (5th minute) and a handball by Bochum central defender Erhan Masovic, in which the hand did not go to the ball when he fell onto the pitch shortly before Mats Hummels' rightly disallowed offside goal to make it 2-1 (90th).

Dortmund's frustration ran deep at the end of this Friday evening of another missed opportunity. Borussia have not won in six competitive games beyond Dortmund. This helps the people of Munich, who have recently stumbled dramatically, in their efforts to get back on their feet.

As correct as Kehl's statement may have been that "in total there were too many wrong decisions in a super-important game", the realization that BVB had once again failed to find their way to the goal with a significant increase in chances also remained correct. At least the captain of the Dortmund championship teams of 2011 and 2012 also found praiseworthy words for the opponents. "Bochum turned the game into a real fight."

And in addition, they had a goalkeeper in Manuel Riemann, who, with the exception of Adeyemi's equaliser (7th), was always on hand when he had to help. The fact that in the end the discussion was almost exclusively about the penalty kick that was not given was self-evident in view of the importance of this duel, especially since even Bochum captain Losilla had not beat around the bush. "To be honest, you can whistle that, no question," he said of the key scene of the hot duel deep in the west.

Despite the blackout of the referee and VAR, Borussia had enough opportunities to win the game and did not take advantage of them because Dortmund lacked the last shot of cold-bloodedness in front of the Bochum goal. That, too, was part of the truth of this game, which was furious on both sides in the first half, and which BVB only dominated after the break – but not with the necessary insistence, vehemence and consistency.

And so, in the end, head coach Edin Terzic had no choice but to appeal to the referees' guild. "I demand," he emphasized, "that at this stage of the season everything is done not to make a wrong decision. That didn't happen today."

However, Borussia will not give up in the fight for Dortmund's first league title since 2012. "Some of us, maybe including me," said Terzic, "have the perhaps unique opportunity in our lives to finally have the championship trophy in our hands."

It is always worth fighting for it. Even if many Bochum supporters, who have been friends with the big BVB rivals from the south for decades, sang maliciously after the end of the game: "Only FCB will be German champions!". Terzic countered this with four fingers of his right hand, with which he wanted to signal to the Black and Yellows' supporters when looking ahead to the remaining four matchdays of this season: "We'll stay tuned."