Top in the Champions League, but not in the Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund couldn’t get beyond a draw at FC Augsburg either. On Saturday (December 16, 2023) it was 1-1 (1-1) after Donyell Malen equalized Ermedin Demirovic’s opening goal. Dortmund have now only won one of the last seven league games.
“I am very dissatisfied with the result. We created so many good chances to score that we should have scored a lot more goals than this one. In the end we invested everything we could to play for a win, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to do that“said BVB coach Edin Terzic in the Sportschau interview.
His counterpart Jess Thorup would also have liked to have won given the way the game went. “We gave everything to get three points and we had the opportunity to do so. But I think it was a great game for the fans. We have shown that we are on the right track“, said the Augsburg coach to the Sportschau.
Augsburg is putting pressure on them, BVB has chances
At BVB this season you never really knew what to expect from him. Dortmund marched confidently through the group phase of the Champions League and came first, but coach Edin Terzic’s team continues to have problems in the league. Especially in terms of football, the runner-up often offered below-average performances for his standards. And BVB also had an incredibly difficult time in Augsburg.
The team, which had only been defeated once in seven games under Thorup, had obviously decided not to let Borussia’s ball artists develop at all and always disrupted the guests’ build-up early on – and they had problems with that this season already revealed several times.
Dortmund still had the first big chance of the game. After a pass from Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Marco Reus finished from twelve meters, but FCA goalkeeper Finn Dahmen was there (9th minute). For Malen, ten minutes later, it was a few centimeters that prevented his shot from landing in the hosts’ goal; the Dutchman narrowly missed (19′).
Dortmund’s painting equalizes FCA’s lead
Augsburg remained aggressive and was rewarded for their efforts. After a long pass from Mads Pedersen, Demirovic robustly prevailed against Nico Schlotterbeck and then gave Gregor Kobel no chance – the 1-0 for the Fuggerstädter (23rd). Referee Matthias Jöllenbeck looked at the scene again on the video images, but found Demirovic’s physical use to be in accordance with the rules.
This undoubtedly also applied to the second goal of the game – and that was at the other end. Malen overcame the opposing defense with a one-two with Niclas Füllkrug and then also Dahmen, scoring the 1-1 for Dortmund (35th). And this result reflected what was happening on the pitch very well. Both teams were evenly matched – but that also meant that Dortmund wasn’t able to fully convince, at least in the first half.
Lots of options, but little precision
That also applied to the second round. Augsburg gained the upper hand and had the first chances to take the lead again. But Phillip Tietz found his master twice in BVB keeper Kobel, who once again saved his team from worse (54th/56th). But BVB also continued to create opportunities. Malen had the opportunity to score his second goal, but Pedersen saved with a tackle at the last moment for his keeper Dahmen (65th). Füllkrug had previously missed a good opportunity (60th).
The large amount of missed scoring opportunities continued afterwards. First Demirovic missed on one side (70th), then Samuel Bamba failed to take advantage of a joint mistake by Dahmen and Jeffrey Gouweleeuw on his Bundesliga debut (74th).
Dahmen saves Augsburg the point
Dortmund had only won one of the last six league games (4-2 against Borussia Mönchengladbach) and once again the Terzic team threatened to miss an opportunity to build pressure on the top places. Because Füllkrug also missed the opponent’s goal with his header after a free kick cross (80th) and then after another mistake by Dahmen when the Augsburg goal was empty but the ball went past (81st).
Dortmund now pushed for the decision, but repeatedly failed to capitalize on their chances. There was another example in the 86th minute: after a one-two, Malen failed to get past Dahmen, then Bamba shot into the side netting in the follow-up. A minute later, Dahmen made a brilliant save after a side kick from Füllkrug. The goalkeeper also parried Malen’s backheel trick a little later (88′).
Augsburg, who still had the chance to win through Ruben Vargas in stoppage time.Lucky Punch“, faltered tremendously in the final phase, but Dortmund’s goal wouldn’t fall. It remained a draw, which didn’t help BVB in particular. League leaders Leverkusen can extend their lead to 13 points on Sunday and are behind fifth-placed Borussia Pursuers getting closer and closer.
Augsburg at VfB, Dortmund against Mainz
Black and Yellow will face Mainz 05 during the week (Tuesday, December 19, 2023 at 8:30 p.m.). The Fuggerstadt team will be visiting Stuttgart one day later (8:30 p.m.).