On the 15th matchday of the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund was able to say goodbye to the winter break with a hard-fought 2-0 (1-0) home win. The guests from Gladbach woke up too late after a sleepy opening quarter of an hour and lost the second game in a row.
Bloody socks from Emre Can, an angry Karim Adeyemi and a lot of excitement – the fans saw all of this in Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park on Friday evening. The decisive goal came after just ten minutes when Niklas Süle served Julian Brandt in an exemplary manner at the second post. “We were far too passive and acted with too little courage”Captain Rocco Reitz found honest words on the sports show microphone.
Goalscorer Brandt praised his team for their performance: “The importance of this victory was immense. Very combative and put the lid on it in the 90th minute”. Particularly piquant – when the goal was created there was an alleged foul by Serhou Guirassy on Philipp Sander. Reitz still didn’t want to use that as an excuse: “It was up to us to take advantage of our chances, so we can’t complain.”.
Dortmund as Bayern chase number 1 into the winter break
In the end, BVB still celebrated the 1-0 home win and goes into the winter break as Bayern’s number 1 chaser. Maximilian Beier scored the final whistle to make the final score 2-0. After a difficult first phase of the season, Borussia Gladbach fought their way from the bottom of the table to 11th place, which is why Reitz is still going into the winter break with a positive feeling: “We can’t be happy, but we’re a bit proud of ourselves for getting out of this hole. It wasn’t easy for everyone mentally.”.
The local Borussia got off to a better start in the 106th duel between the two teams. With the first chance to score, BVB took the 1-0 lead (10th). Süle, who was rotated into the starting line-up, delivered a cross ideally to the second post, where Brandt finished with a technically high-quality foot from four meters. “It was a nice goal, buttery cross from Niki”enthused Brandt. Dortund then pushed for the second goal, but Guirassy narrowly missed making it 2-0 after a big cross.
Dortmund takes the lead with the first chance
The striker’s goal drought, who last scored in the league in October, continued. The visitors were lucky in the 25th minute when Nico Elvedi cleared the ball in front of the Guinean, who was ready to head in. Eugen Polanski’s team then tried to fight their way back into the game with counterattacks, but the BVB defense had been flawless so far. And up front, Karim Adeyemi also turned up the heat for the Black and Yellows alongside Guirassy and goalscorer Brandt.
Strong effort: Niklas Süle was able to stop Gladbach’s Florian Neuhaus at the last second
Guirassy was found by Daniel Svensson in the six-yard box, who passed it across to the German, but Nicolas prevented the second goal with a brilliant effort. The hosts’ missed chances seemed to wake up the guests, as they combined through the opposition’s half. Süle had to clear twice in his own penalty area, first against Haris Tabakovic (36th), then against Florian Neuhaus (37th).
Gladbach is pushing for an equalizer before the break
Four minutes later, BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was lucky that the deflected ball from former Dortmund player Gio Reyna went past the left post. The guests brought their offensive energy back with them from the break. A Reyna cross was unluckily cleared by Svensson at the feet of Neuhaus, but captain Emre Can made every effort to defuse the shot (48′). In the 55th minute, Guirassy apparently turned the game on its head again when he headed in to make it 2-0 – but the 29-year-old was offside.
The game became increasingly heated, Adeyemi clashed several times with the opponent and referee Sven Jablonski, so coach Niko Kovac replaced the 23-year-old with Beier (60th). BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl announced consequences for the offensive player after the outburst of anger on Sky: “The scene will have to be talked about. He will get a penalty for it because we have discussed the topic very intensively with the team in the last few weeks.”.
The duel between Elvedi and Beier is a topic of conversation
The striker previously had a great chance when he put Kevin Diks under pressure early on and the attempt to clear the ball turned into a blocked shot on goal that Nicolas had to clear. After that the game calmed down a bit until BVB loudly demanded a penalty. However, the duel between Elvedi and Beier in the penalty area was not enough for the official to award a penalty – quite fortunate for the guests. Polanski brought in three new players in the 80th minute, including Wael Mohya.
The 16-year-old had the best chance to equalize just seconds after being substituted on, but Kobel made a brilliant save. In the 89th minute, substitute Beier was able to make it 2-0 completely unmarked, but the striker apparently lost his strength before finishing. The last few minutes resembled an attack by Gladbach, while the home team defended with all eleven players in their own penalty area. With the final whistle, Beier scored to make the final score 2-0, when Gladbach had already thrown everything forward.
Dortmund in Frankfurt, Gladbach against Augsburg
After the winter break, Dortmund will be guests at Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday evening (8:30 p.m.). Gladbach welcomes FC Augsburg on Sunday afternoon (3:30 p.m.).
