A lot went wrong for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga against 1. FC Heidenheim. Then captain Nico Schlotterbeck gave the ball to his hapless teammate Serhou Guirassy for a penalty – and everything changed.
The recently much-maligned striker ran in and scored to make it 2-2 (68th minute). A little later he made it 3-2 (70′) and saved BVB’s narrow home win against bottom team 1. FC Heidenheim on matchday 20 of the Bundesliga. The fact that he then missed another penalty (85′) didn’t matter to his and Dortmund’s luck.
The guests initially turned around the 0-1 deficit through Waldemar Anton (44th) with two goals from Julian Niehues (45th + 5th, 48th) shortly before and shortly after the break. And yet they left the field as losers. “We played very well today. That would have been a top performance if it hadn’t been for the result“, stated Heidenheim’s coach Frank Schmidt on the sports show microphone and classified the victory as “very happy for BVB” a.
Nico Schlotterbeck sets his sights on the championship
Dortmund coach Niko Kovac took one thing with him in the Sportschau interview: “The team’s reaction to the deficit was good. I think we put on a good face. We also played decent football.”
While Heidenheim (13 points) is increasingly losing sight of the shore at the bottom of the table after seven games without a win, they can dream of big things in Dortmund. After league leaders Bayern Munich lost ground again with a 2-2 draw at Hamburger SV, BVB (45 points) is suddenly only six points behind first place.
BVB defender Schlotterbeck already switched to attack mode on DAZN: “As BVB you slowly have to have the ambition to say to the fans: We want to become champions. Now it’s six points, three points less than after the winter break. That’s why I can say: I and the boys too, we want to attack now.“
Serhou Guirassy was initially unlucky
The game took a while to sort itself out. Heidenheim was wide awake on defense from the start, boldly started Dortmund’s build-up game and quickly retreated deep when the pressing was overplayed. So BVB didn’t have much space – but they had their first good chance.
Guirassy (14th) beat Patrick Mainka on the left and headed towards the goal. But instead of serving the completely unmarked Jobe Bellingham in front of the goal, the BVB attacker tried to shoot from a tight angle in order to shoot away his jam. But FCH goalkeeper Diant Ramaj stood well and made a save.
Serhou Guirassy tries it himself and fails because of Ramaj.
Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck heads just over
As a result, BVB also found it difficult to generate deals. When things got dangerous, they did so according to standards. Schlotterbeck (22nd) headed over his first good attempt. Little by little, Heidenheim also became more confident. The ball was in the Borussia goal for the first time after 24 minutes, but Mainka had previously thrown goalkeeper Gregor Kobel off balance in the five-yard box with a long ball in the air.
Shortly afterwards, however, the guests would have had to strike. But winter returnee Eren Dinkci took too long eleven meters in front of the goal to process the ball. His hectic shot attempt then became easy prey for Kobel. Dortmund now attacked a little more in depth and were almost rewarded, but Guirassy’s (38th) lob after a good run only hit the crossbar.
Dormtund only cheers briefly, Heidenheim counters
When it looked like a goalless first half, the goal was broken – first by BVB and of course after a corner. Goalkeeper Ramaj lost control of the ball in the air in the scrum. Anton accepted the falling gift and shot the ball into the goal from five meters to make it 1-0.
But that in no way meant the break. During the guests’ final advance, Mathias Honsak beat youngster Filippo Mané down the left side, who was injured in the process. Niehues took the cross directly, but was blocked. But the ball fell again at Heidenheimer’s feet and from close range he poked it over the line while lying down to make it 1-1.
Julian Niehues rewarded Heidenheim’s courageous performance with the equalizer shortly before half-time.
Julian Niehues gives Heidenheim the lead with a brace
And things got even worse for the black and yellow: Immediately after the break, Arijon Ibrahimovic, who had just been substituted, came through strongly with a solo against three defenders. Niehues took the back pass from 20 meters at full risk, slightly deflected by Daniel Svensson, the ball hit the BVB goal at 120 km/h to make it 1-2.
BVB wobbled worryingly. Dinkci (51′) was completely blank on a set piece from the left at the right post and headed over. Marvin Pieringer’s opportunity was even clearer, but he also failed to get a free header from five meters into the goal. There was unrest in the stands. There were the first whistles from the BVB fans.
BVB captain Schlotterbeck gives Guirassy a penalty
At this point, Dortmund was living by luck. And that’s what the hosts needed to come back. During a cross, the ball bounced to Niklas Dorsch’s elbow. According to the video images, referee Matthias Jöllenbeck decided on a penalty. Schlotterbeck took the ball, cheered on the Borussia fans in the south stand and then handed the ball over to Guirassy.
Schlotterbeck leaves the important penalty to the recently weakening Guirassy.
Guirassy ran in and scored somewhat fortunately to make it 2-2 because goalkeeper Ramaj had actually guessed the corner correctly. But that somehow broke the black-yellow knot, especially with Guirassy. Less than two minutes after his equalizer, the attacker moved into the penalty area from the right, received the pass from substitute Maximilian Beier and, under pressure, maneuvered the ball into the goal from a tight angle to make it 3-2.
Guirassy takes second Penalty gift not on
Suddenly BVB was on top again and now Heidenheim was wobbling. With the lively fans behind them, Dortmund put the pressure on and had the chance to make a preliminary decision in the final phase. After a foul on Guirassy there was another penalty for Borussia.
Schlotterbeck grabbed the ball again. He passed it on to Guirassy again. But this time the striker wanted to do it too well and aimed for the right angle. The ball whizzed over the crossbar. In eight minutes of stoppage time, Heidenheim tried everything to take a point. Ibrahimovic (90.+2) actually had the equalizer on his feet, but missed from close range.
Mikkel Kaufmann (90th + 5) also didn’t get the ball under the ball from four meters. So it remained a happy ending for Borussia Dortmund and for Serhou Guirassy.
Dortmund in Wolfsburg, Heidenheim against HSV
Dortmund will be guests at VfL Wolfsburg next matchday on Saturday afternoon (February 7, 2026, 3:30 p.m.). At the same time, Heidenheim welcomes Hamburger SV for a relegation duel (3:30 p.m.).
