Controversial BVB goal
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Borussia Dortmund won the explosive West duel against Borussia Mönchengladbach without any shine and is in second place in the table, at least for the time being. Coach Niko Kovac’s team defeated the team from Lower Rhine 2-0 (1-0) on the 116th day the Dortmund club was founded, even without any major game highlights. The victory should calm the previously tense situation at BVB just in time for Christmas. Dortmund had only won three of the previous nine competitive games. Critics of the team’s style of play are unlikely to be silenced.
In front of 81,365 spectators in the local football temple, Julian Brandt scored the goal for the Revierklub in the 10th minute. Maximilian Beier (90+7) scored the final score in stoppage time. Gladbach, on the other hand, appeared harmless in attack. Coach Eugen Polanski’s team wintered in mid-table with 16 points. For Brandt it was the fourth goal in the last three home games.
For Dortmund, 32 points after 15 games are the best result in seven years. However, the gap to leaders FC Bayern Munich can grow to nine points again on Sunday.
Kovac changed his team to five positions compared to the 1-1 draw in Freiburg last Sunday – also because of personnel problems. Brandt and Niklas Süle, among others, were new to the starting line-up. That quickly paid off. In co-production, the two gave Dortmund the early lead. Süle crossed from the right to the second post, where Brandt scored with the first chance to make it 1-0 with a remarkable direct shot.
Controversial lead for BVB – there is also no penalty whistle
A tussle between Serhou Guirassy and Gladbach’s Philipp Sander immediately in front of the goal caused excitement. It wasn’t just the Gladbach team who complained about an unfair action by the BVB striker. “This is clearly a foul,” said former international Shkodran Mustafi on “Sky”. Referee Sven Jablonski saw it differently. Dortmund didn’t shine afterwards, but despite some astonishing passivity, they kept the action away from their own goal for a long time. This was also because the guests did not take advantage of promising transition situations.
The Gladbachers showed commitment, but played far too imprecisely to put Kovac’s team in trouble. If Gladbach’s keeper Moritz Nicolas hadn’t reacted brilliantly to a huge chance from Karim Adeyemi, it would have been 2-0 after half an hour. When Gladbach had its first chance to score shortly before half-time, Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was there to beat Rocco Reitz. Shortly after the break, the BVB fans celebrated the supposed preliminary decision. A header goal by Guirassy did not count because the 29-year-old was previously offside.
The game now became more hectic. Referee Jablonski showed yellow cards and was repeatedly involved in discussions by the players. Adeyemi was very upset after his substitution and had to be calmed down by BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl. Then Jablonski left a foul on Beier, who was substituted for Adeyemi, in the penalty area unpunished and surprisingly was not asked to provide video evidence.
The Gladbachers struggled on the pitch, but continued to make the wrong decisions too often in the opponent’s half. BVB failed to calm the game and the nerves of their own fans with another goal. Wael Mohya, who had just been substituted, missed the equalizer almost out of nowhere. The 16-year-old failed because of Kobel. So Dortmund trembled into stoppage time, where Beier, after an initially negligently missed chance, let the black and yellow celebrate again after the strong Süle won the ball and a pass from Fábio Silva, who was also substitute.