Free kick, goal; Free kick, goal; Corner, gate: Borussia Dortmund finished the English week in the Bundesliga with one point. In Mönchengladbach, BVB lost the second top game in a row – again it was due to the poor defense of opposing set pieces. The Gladbachers pull past the Dortmunders in the table and are now on a Champions League place. BVB is threatened with falling to eighth place during the 18th matchday.
The result: Mönchengladbach won the home game 4-2 (2-2) and remains undefeated in 2021.
First half: Four goals, two VAR decisions, nine shots on goals – it was an entertaining start to the second half of the Bundesliga. The back and forth was also facilitated by two rows of defenses that went about their main tasks slackly. Central defender Nico Elvedi scored twice for Mönchengladbach, after the 1-0 lead (11th minute) he had to wait three minutes before referee Manuel Gräfe could rule out a supposed offside position for the Swiss. In the meantime, BVB also led – with two remarkable goals by Erling Haaland (22/28).
Dortmund’s reaction: The away Borussia had a complicated week behind them. After the 1-1 draw against Mainz, BVB lost in Leverkusen and was criticized by coach Edin Terzic for body language. Terzic demanded a reaction – and got it, if only after a quarter of an hour. Dortmund won after a confused start – Gladbach’s trainer Marco Rose had surprised the guests with a back three-way chain – the majority of duels, combined worth seeing and could have led higher.
The thing with the clear wrong decisions: Referee Gräfe and video assistant Tobias Welz were not only the focus of Elvedi’s first goal. After 43 seconds, the ball had already been in the Dortmund goal. Gräfe first decided that Jonas Hofmann had won the ball without a foul. The referee took this back after going to the review area – and was loudly criticized by Rose. Gräfe then went to the sidelines in his usual calm and explained his rethinking to Rose. He hadn’t noticed Hofmann’s push against Jude Bellingham and therefore it was a wrong decision. Gräfe will retire after this season for reasons of age, he will be absent from the Bundesliga.
Dortmund’s goalkeeper problem: BVB is not a title team, as SPIEGEL wrote after the defeat in Leverkusen. The team is extremely talented, but the supposed leading players such as Marco Reus, Emre Can or Axel Witsel afford too many bad games. Goalkeeper Roman Bürki belongs in this line. The Swiss rarely wins games for his team. He already looked unhappy when he conceded goals in Leverkusen, but Elvedi’s 2-2 win was clearly a matter for Bürki. He let a free kick from Lars Stindl – which he saw late – ricochet forward, Elvedi dusted off undisturbed.
Second half: Gladbach made another brilliant start. Ramy Bensebaini put the cautious defending Julian Brandt in the penalty area and flicked the ball into the far corner to take the lead again (50th minute). Again, BVB ran after a deficit, again afterwards it looked good in terms of play. This time, the guests did not come back – also because substitute Marcus Thuram headed the decision (79th).
Gladbacher Comebacks: The other Borussia also had an eventful week. There were a lot of headlines about Breel Embolo, who admitted to violating corona rules but did not want to have attended a party in Essen. Embolo was in the squad and was substituted on, as was Thuram. The Frenchman had to sit out five Bundesliga games because he spat on opponent Stefan Posch against Hoffenheim. Thuram responded directly with a goal. After a corner, how else?
A win against the new club? One of the many stories in this game is a possible coach swap at the end of the season. Terzic has a contract in Dortmund until the end of the season, Rose is said to have a release clause in his and, according to the “Bild” newspaper, Gladbach is thinking about Ajax coach Erik ten Hag as a possible successor for Rose – should he actually go to BVB. Unsurprisingly, this evening in Borussia Park brought no news on this matter. Except for the realization that Rose is an excellent trainer.
