For the second time in a few days, Borussia Dortmund managed to win thanks to a goal in the closing stages. Although not everything was pleasing, BVB registered again at the top of the Bundesliga.
Cheering after the late goal: goalscorer Giovanni Reyna with Marius Wolf (left) and setter Sebastien Haller (right).
IMAGO/RHR-Photo
Stabilizing the defense was one of Edin Terzic’s main goals before the game at 1. FSV Mainz 05. But despite only one goal, which Jae-Sung Lee scored for Rheinhessen in the second minute, Dortmund only partially succeeded. So after the 0:1, which Julian Ryerson equalized immediately, BVB allowed almost nothing in the first half. In the second half, however, the Borussia defense – like against Augsburg – always seemed quite shaky.
The fact that the second three after the long break was a little lucky was therefore a little lucky, especially since the decisive 2:1 only came in injury time after a standard situation.
Brandt: “Last-minute victories are the best”
“Last-minute victories are the most beautiful,” said Julian Brandt on “Sky” after the game. “We had to work for victory and we have to believe that we can win a game in the 90th minute,” said the World Cup participant. That’s why Terzic took some positives from the game against Mainz: “Of course it helps that we know next time there’s a draw just before the end that we can still score a goal. And that we can score a set-piece, if it doesn’t work out playfully – that’s very nice.”
Apart from the first quarter of an hour, when Dortmund showed a lot of vigor after the 1-1 and missed good chances to score one or two more goals, BVB could actually show little that was edifying in terms of offensive without the yellow card suspension Jude Bellingham. “You can build on that, so that at some point we’ll play the beautiful football that’s dormant in us,” Brandt nevertheless hopes that his team will find a way back to a more attractive style of play in the future.
Terzic’s clairvoyant abilities with Haller
After the scorer of the decisive goal, as against Augsburg, was Giovanni Reyna, the assist provider was a very special one: Because it was the first goal participation after his illness for Sebastien Haller, who also came into play again as a joker. “His last competitive game before the brief assignment was in May. That’s why we’re a bit more careful there,” Terzic explained this decision before the game.
“But I am sure that he will play an important role today,” Terzic added, almost clairvoyantly about Haller. Because the Frenchman headed the ball in stoppage time after Brandt’s corner right at Reyna, who executed a lucky punch from close range. “One always talks about his tumor and not about the fact that he makes us better,” said Brandt about his suffering team-mate. If Haller continues as he did in Mainz, this will soon be a thing of the past.
