Brandt scores at the anniversary
©IMAGO
Back on the road to success with minimalism: Five days after losing the cup, Borussia Dortmund is back on track, at least in the Bundesliga. With the 2-0 (1-0) win in a rather disappointing top game against TSG 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.
It was the first away defeat of the season for the surprisingly successful guests this season, and the Kraichgauers’ unbeaten streak ended after six games. 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,” said BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl before the game on “DAZN”.
However, for a long time it didn’t look like that against our direct competitors. Both teams played a soporific and unambitious game in Dortmund’s constant rain. 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.
Guirassy was again preferred in attack over 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 hit the crossbar in one of his past nine Bundesliga games – and hit the crossbar with a powerful shot against TSG in the 90th minute.
Dortmund’s lead at halftime fell without warning. Following preparatory work from the strong Yan Couto, Brandt executed a free-standing shot in his 200th Bundesliga game for BVB. 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 a bit outplayed 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.