Serhou Guirassy celebrated a dream comeback at VfB Stuttgart and gave Borussia Dortmund the next setback. The striker came on as a substitute in the Swabians’ 2-1 (1-1) win against BVB on Saturday and scored the winning goal with a penalty kick in the 83rd minute. Dortmund are now eight points behind league leaders FC Bayern Munich.
BVB keeper Gregor Kobel made several strong saves, but also caused two penalties – and was only able to save one of them. Borussia also lost Mats Hummels, who had to leave the field with injuries. Niclas Füllkrug (36th minute) gave BVB, who had been disappointing for a long time, the lead, Deniz Undav (42nd) equalized in front of 55,000 spectators. Then Guirassy made the decision as a joker.
Four days after beating Newcastle 2-0 in the Champions League, Dortmund played a shockingly weak first half. They were harmless at the front, but at the back they had the biggest problems with Stuttgart’s quick attacks. But: VfB missed numerous opportunities – and missed a penalty kick for the third time in a row. Against Hoffenheim (2:3), Undav didn’t put the ball in the goal from the point, in Heidenheim (0:2) it was Silas. This time Chris Führich was denied in the eleventh minute by BVB keeper Kobel, who had caused the penalty himself.
Guirassy’s 15th Bundesliga goal of the season
The Swiss was the first Dortmund goalkeeper to save a penalty in the Bundesliga in ten years and subsequently distinguished himself several times – whether against Undav, Stuttgart playmaker Enzo Millot or Jamie Leweling. The Swabians pressed hard, especially in the middle of the first half, but simply didn’t score a goal.
In the 28th minute, Dortmund’s defensive veteran Hummels, nominated by national coach Julian Nagelsmann for the upcoming international matches against Turkey (November 18th) and Austria (November 21st), had to be replaced with an injury. Ramy Bensebaini replaced the 34-year-old. But the Algerian also failed to stabilize the visitors’ defense.
Dortmund’s lead was all the more surprising. Julian Ryerson brought the ball flat into the penalty area from the right, Füllkrug lurked behind VfB defender Dan-Axel Zagadou and scored his third league goal of the current season from close range. The Stuttgart team shook briefly, but then hit back. Leweling passed a long ball from Hiroki Ito to Undav – and he kept his nerve this time. The 1:1 was well deserved.
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BVB coach Edin Terzic brought on Marco Reus and Donyell Malen in the second half to boost the offensive. But VfB initially stayed on the trigger and had their first big chance again through Führich (54′). Six minutes later, Dortmund’s Bensebaini and Nico Schlotterbeck almost scored an own goal.
An exciting final half hour began, in which Dortmund’s Marcel Sabitzer first hit the post (62nd) and Stuttgart’s storm ace Guirassy then made his comeback after an injury break (67th). The guests were now a little better in the game, but VfB ended their penalty epidemic. After Kobel fouled Silas, Guirassy scored for the 15th time this Bundesliga season.
