Sports director Sebastian Kehl was satisfied. After Borussia Dortmund’s 4-2 win over Union Berlin, he praised the “really good mentality” of the Dortmund team, was happy about “a show of will” after the break and said: “In terms of football, it was really, really impressive.” In one Despite a rather slow season so far, the Revierklub remains undefeated despite major fluctuations in performance.
The first half against the Berliners was again very disjointed, characterized by Dortmund’s inaccuracies and BVB’s search for a breakthrough idea. And of long interruptions waiting for decisions from the video assistant Bastian Dankert in Cologne. Danger in front of the Berlin goal actually only arose from standard situations, and that’s how the score was 1-0.
Niclas Füllkrug scored from close range after a free kick from Marco Reus to give coach Edin Terzić’s team the lead (7th), who said: “It was a very difficult first half, we didn’t manage to keep the tempo high. “The more dangerous team was initially 1. FC Union, who have now lost seven competitive games in a row.
Even before the deficit, Kevin Behrens, who was nominated for the national team for the first time, hit the crossbar with an impressive shot. And two minutes after Dortmund’s opening goal, Füllkrug deflected a header from Robin Gosens into his own goal for a fully deserved equalizer.
Trouble with video assistants
What followed was an unusual series of difficult decisions by the video assistant, prompting angry reactions from parts of the audience. Initially, Axel Kral scored with a header for Berlin, only after a check that lasted more than four minutes and five seconds was the goal canceled (18th) because the calibrated lines in the Cologne basement apparently didn’t work.
The offside check after an irregular goal by Füllkrug also took a comparatively long time (27th), and when a foul was assessed on Sheraldo Becker in the Cologne basement by Mats Hummels, who was substituted in the second half with a thigh problem, the whole stadium roared angrily: “You ruins our game.” Leonardo Bonucci converted the following penalty to make it 2-1 for Berlin (31st).
First Bundesliga goal: Leonardo Bonucci: Image: AP
In this first half, as in so many games before, it was difficult to identify a top team in the yellow jerseys. At least it was positive that Dortmund tried to cross more often, something they had planned to do after the 0-0 draw against AC Milan in the Champions League.
“Good reaction”
And after the break, the audience saw “a really good reaction,” said sports director Kehl. Nico Schlotterbeck managed – aided by a much too timid goalkeeping action by Berlin’s Frederik Rönnow – a magnificent long-range goal to make it 2-2 (50th), and the Berlin field players kindly helped to turn things around in Dortmund’s favor.
“How we conceded the second and third goals is not possible at this level, there is no final consequence,” said coach Urs Fischer. Julian Brandt scored the 3-2 after a classic counterattack and nice preparatory work by Marco Reus (54th), in the Berlin half they had opened up huge spaces for BVB to make this move.
Since Reus also prepared Füllkrug’s 1-0 win, the former BVB captain has now followed up with two assists after three Bundesliga games with one goal each. He remains an indispensable part of Dortmund’s offensive game.
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Above all, these Dortmund players currently have the ability to win games even after weaker halves and phases. After another less than confident defensive action by Rönnow, Julian Ryerson was lucky that his long-range shot was deflected into the Berlin goal by Gosens (71′).
“I think it will be difficult against us,” said Kehl. Borussia Dortmund seems to have survived this first phase of the season without any serious damage and is apparently ready for the intense autumn of football, which begins after the international break with a game against Werder Bremen.
