Next FCA defeat
©IMAGO
A gift from Augsburg enabled Borussia Dortmund to climb to second place in the Bundesliga – and completed Sandro Wagner’s three-bankruptcy week with FCA. In BVB’s 1-0 (1-0) win at the start of the 9th matchday, striker Serhou Guirassy ended his week-long goal drought in the 37th minute with goal number five of the season.
Before the Champions League game at Manchester City, Dortmund’s coach Niko Kovac was able to achieve success with ex-Dortmunder Erling Haaland in less than a week with two wins in the league and one in the DFB Cup. Even if the success in Augsburg fell into the category of arduous work.
And Wagner? After the 0:6 against RB Leipzig and the embarrassing cup exit against the second division team VfL Bochum (0:1), he was again unable to celebrate a point or a goal. But at least his team didn’t go down again, but fought back and even pushed for the 1-1 after the break.
What was really annoying for the hosts was the decisive scene shortly before half-time in front of 30,660 spectators. Chrislain Matsima wanted to clear a high ball from BVB defender Waldemar Anton with his head. However, the FCA defender headed past teammate Han-Boah Massengo. The ball flew from his body to Guirassy, who thanked him. Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen was unable to block the striker’s shot.
Despite FCA’s sporting difficulties, Wagner doesn’t have to worry about his first head coaching job in the Bundesliga. The 37-year-old continues to enjoy the trust of the FCA bosses. The fans, on the other hand, clearly criticized the attempt at realignment with the Wagner figure on posters. “Big words, no actions,” it read. “Personality cult” and “marketing madness” are not their values.
Nevertheless, the Augsburg supporters supported their team. “We want to be petty and take the stadium with us,” Wagner announced on “Sky” before kick-off. That was his team. The ex-national player rotated heavily during the cup week, as did Kovac, who was once his coach at FC Bayern Munich. Wagner also proved that he is “not stubborn”. Instead of attacking high and risky, FCA defended deeper and more compactly in the block.
Dortmund without Nico Schlotterbeck who is ill
“When you lose, there is pressure,” Wagner recognized. At best, Kovac is currently feeling positive pressure at BVB. Three days after the show of strength in the DFB Cup at Eintracht Frankfurt, he had to do without his most important defender for a short time: Nico Schlotterbeck was “flat” with a cold on the day of the match, as his coach reported.
A Schlotterbeck was still on the pitch, because Keven Schlotterbeck, Nico’s older brother, was once again allowed to defend at FCA. The league’s shooting gallery (21 goals conceded) held tight for a long time. This was also due to the fact that the Dortmund team could hardly get up to speed in forward gear. The game largely took place between the penalty areas, with little speed or esprit. Apart from BVB taking the lead, there were no chances to score before the break.
At the start of the second half of the game, the Dortmund fans who traveled along lit pyrotechnics. Some rockets even landed on the pitch near the players. Luckily, the dangerous mischief ended well and was over quickly. Almost everything now took place in the Dortmund half. Wagner’s team pressed and tried a lot – the BVB defense around national player Anton wavered.