Mainz’s notorious heavy tackle Dominilk ‘Hard’ Kohr wrote another ignominious chapter of history last night. The 31-year-old’s Bundesliga teammates nevertheless weren’t in much of a mood to celebrate the silly side of their teammate’s shenanigans. Prior to yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim, Kohr already held the Bundesliga record for the most times a top flight player has been sent off. Kohr’s ninth sending off proved a bit much.
Kohr received a straight red card in the 88th minute for a studs-up challenge straight into the calf of Hoffenheim’s Max Moerstedt. The nature of the tackle likely means that Kohr will have to sit more than one match out. Mainz’s Nadiem Amiri – who himself will be suspended for the next Bundesliga match after incurring his fifth yellow card – considered Kohr’s behavior irresponsible. The Rheinhessen are, after all, in a relegation race.
“It was a straight red card,” Amiri flatly admitted when asked about the scene by Sky Germany last night. “That wasn’t a smart move from him because he’s a very important player.“
“There isn’t much to discuss,” Mainz goal-scorer Danny da Costa added in his own Sky interview. “He hit him [Moerstedt] above the ankle with considerable force, so the red card is justified.“
“Everyone said it wasn’t a smart move,” head coach Bo Henriksen noted when speaking to Sky. “I’ll have to talk to him tomorrow.“
For his part, Hoffenheim head coach Christian Ilzer declined – as Stuttgart’s Deniz Undav recently did – to insinuate that Kohr was deliberately trying to hurt one of his opponents.
Part of this may have had to do with the fact that Ilzer remained on the defensive when it came to the matter of the massive Hoffenheim administrative upheaval going on above him.
“I don’t want to add fuel to the fire,” Ilzer told Sky. “but I haven’t seen such a hard tackle in a very long time.“
