Borussia Dortmund is struggling to win against the bottom of the table on coach Niko Kovac’s anniversary. Serhou Guirassy shoots BVB further closer to FC Bayern.
Serhou Guirassy was shaking on the bench in the last few minutes, but then the match winner could also breathe a sigh of relief. The striker happily accepted the many congratulations, and thanks to his two goals, Borussia Dortmund celebrated coach Niko Kovac’s anniversary with a hard-earned victory. Against relegation-threatened 1. FC Heidenheim, BVB struggled to a 3-2 (1-1) win, thereby reducing the gap to league leaders Bayern Munich to six points.
Guirassy, who had been weak for weeks (68th, hand penalty, 70th), turned the game around with a double strike. The striker missed his hat trick and the decision with a penalty kick (85th), and Dortmund survived the long added time unscathed with a lot of luck. Waldemar Anton (44th) had put Borussia in the lead, but Julian Niehues (45th + 4/48th) put the Champions League participants in dire straits.
“I always believe in myself. In the end we won, that’s the most important thing,” said Guirassy on “DAZN” and joked: “But penalties are over for me.” Nico Schlotterbeck said: “It was sometimes wild on both sides. We allowed a lot.”
Schlotterbeck announcement to FC Bayern
Nevertheless, the national player was persuaded to declare war on FC Bayern. “As BVB you have to have the ambition to tell the fans that we want to become champions. Now there are six points, three less than after the winter break. That’s why I can say and the boys too, we want to attack now.” The Munich team had only played 2-2 at Hamburger SV the day before.
Heidenheim’s coach Frank Schmidt was annoyed about the missed chances, and shortly before the end his team missed two great chances to equalize: “I don’t think the defeat was deserved. I think it’s lucky for BVB.”
Kovac, who has been with BVB since February 2, 2025 and has stabilized the team primarily defensively, mostly watched the game with his arms crossed in his coaching zone. In recent weeks, BVB have often been able to rely on their individual superiority thanks to their stable defense. However, Dortmund rarely shone in terms of play, and that was also evident against the unsettled Heidenheimers.
It took a good quarter of an hour for the first climax, Guirassy (14th) shot on goal from a tight angle. Otherwise there was hardly any big difference in performance, on the contrary: Heidenheim played along cheerfully and had a huge opportunity through returnee Eren Dinkci (26th).
The game picked up speed, Guirassy, who Kovac had recently encouraged again, hit the crossbar from the turn (38th). Then BVB celebrated after a corner: Anton scored after Diant Ramaj dropped the ball. Heidenheim complained – especially because the other side had previously decided differently in a similar scene. Referee Matthias Jöllenbeck did not recognize a goal by Patrick Mainka (25th) because the Heidenheim captain had bumped into goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
Niehues puts together a brace – Guirassy chips over the goal
The guests shook themselves briefly and made it 1-1 through Niehues before the break. In the process, Dortmund’s Filippo Mané fell to the ground injured, and the young Italian couldn’t continue. Niklas Süle came onto the field for him.
At 1:2, Süle, like the entire defense, looked bad. Niehues finished off a quick counterattack strongly. There was initially no reaction from BVB, so Kovac tried the fresh Maximilian Beier and Carney Chukwuemeka (58th). Just seconds before, Marvin Pieringer (57th) missed Heidenheim’s next big chance.
Dortmund struggled to find an answer and took advantage of Niklas Dorsch’s handball in the penalty area. After the equalizer, BVB overwhelmed the guests, and Guirassy in particular seemed relaxed. The striker took the second penalty, but the Guinean chipped it into the south curve. BVB had to continue to tremble. Arijon Ibrahimovic (90+2) and Mikkel Kaufmann (90+6) each missed the equalizer from close range. Between Heidenheim’s big chances, Guirassy had to leave the field in pain.
