Cologne were defeated 4-3 at home to Freiburg in a thrilling German Bundesliga game on Sunday, but there was a moment of confusion in the 15th minute when the referee struggled to find the penalty spot amongst the light covering of snow on the pitch.

The winless hosts saw kick-off delayed by 30 minutes due to heavy snowfall that had to be cleared away prior to the match starting.

But that didn’t prevent the winter game from being momentarily interrupted while the players, along with the officials, tried and failed to located the white spot ahead of Sehrou Guirassy’s 16th minute strike that put the home side 2-0 up.

In the end everyone gave up and the referee counted steps away from the goal line with a little help from the chilly supporters.

The visitors turned around a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3.