At least in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund remains on course after the cup exit. The highly praised Hoffenheim team disappoint away from home for the first time. Nico Schlotterbeck also scores in front of a strangely quiet backdrop.
Back on the road to success with minimalism: Five days after the cup exit, Borussia Dortmund is back on track, at least in the Bundesliga. With the 2-0 (1-0) win in a disappointing top game against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, BVB remains on the heels of second-placed RB Leipzig. Goals from Julian Brandt (43rd minute) and Nico Schlotterbeck (60th) ensured that coach Niko Kovac’s team remained unbeaten in their tenth Bundesliga home game in a row.
For the surprisingly successful guests this season, it was the first away defeat of the season. Coach Christian Ilzer’s team missed out on a place in the Champions League. Dortmund remains third in the table with 28 points behind FC Bayern Munich (37) and Leipzig (29).
“The DFB Cup was a big ambition of ours. We wanted to go to Berlin, we finally wanted to play for this title again. Now we are eliminated. Nevertheless, we are in third place in the league and can take a huge step today,” Dortmund’s sports director Sebastian Kehl said before the game on DAZN.
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However, for a long time it didn’t look like that against our direct competitors. Both teams offered soporific and unambitious football. The unusually quiet atmosphere in the stadium did the rest – it hasn’t been as quiet as it was on Sunday for half an eternity, despite the 81,365 spectators.
Until the break, an alleged foul by Vladimir Coufal in the Hoffenheim penalty area on Serhou Guirassy (21′) was the only excitement in the game for a long time. However, referee Florian Badstübner did not see this as worthy of a penalty and video referee Pascal Müller’s assessment was confirmed.
Brandt ice cold, Schlotterbeck falling
Guirassy was again preferred in attack for Fábio Silva, who had been given a chance from the start in the cup but was not convincing. The BVB striker has been in a form crisis for a few weeks and couldn’t find a way out against Hoffenheim either. The Guinean has only scored in one of his last nine Bundesliga games – and against TSG in the 90th minute with a powerful shot that hit the crossbar.
Dortmund’s lead at halftime fell without warning. Following preparatory work from Yan Couto, Brandt executed a free-standing shot. He had escaped from the inattentive Leon Avdullahu.
Anyone who had hoped for a top game worthy of this title, at least after half-time, was disappointed. Far too little came from Hoffenheim and BVB also seems to be outplayed in these weeks. Schlotterbeck, of all people, who has been in more or less constant use since recovering from a torn meniscus two months ago, made the preliminary decision in the fall. The 26-year-old gave the right answer to his somewhat shaky performances last week.
lwö/dpa
