Winning goal despite jet lag – Julian Brandt took Borussia Dortmund to the top of the table, at least for one night, in his 300th Bundesliga game. The national player, picked up by BVB on a private jet from the USA like three other DFB colleagues, scored the only goal in a 1-0 (0-0) win against Werder Bremen in a long, tough battle.
His anniversary “has already been relatively successful. I’m very happy and tired,” said Brandt on “DAZN”: “I’m happy when I’m lying in bed.”
Brandt received praise for his goal from Niclas Füllkrug. “Jule is doing great, great timing – and he finishes perfectly,” said the former Bremer. Füllkrug said he “would have liked to score a goal” against his former colleagues: “But after the 1-0 win you could see that we had more space.”
A brilliant moment from Emre Can was enough on Friday evening to completely expose Bremen, who had been defending very solidly for a long time, in front of 81,365 spectators. The captain played a perfect interface pass to Brandt, who elegantly lifted the ball over Werder goalkeeper Michael Zetterer (67th). Bremen has lost seven away games in a row and is threatened with a relegation battle for the season.
For example, BVB top scorer Niclas Füllkrug hardly had any action against his former club. Dortmund created great opportunities through Marco Reus and Donyell Malen, but were too inconsistent until Brandt came along. The 27-year-old is the third-youngest player with 300 appearances in Bundesliga history.
DFB quartet in BVB starting eleven
Just 64 hours after the final whistle of the German duel with Mexico, three of the four German national players were in Dortmund’s starting eleven: Mats Hummels, Brandt and Füllkrug. Niklas Süle sat on the bench.
The fans have not forgotten Füllkrug’s many goals for Werder: “Thank you for your effort, Lücke,” was written on a Bremen Ultras banner before kick-off. The pressure on his old colleagues was immediately high: Malen fired the first shot (6th) – Zetterer, replacement for the injured goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka, made the save. A header from Marius Wolf (7th) could have made it 1-0.
For ten minutes, if Bremen managed to cross the halfway line in an orderly manner, they hardly made a pass to their teammate. Dawid Kownacki (11th) missed the first counter-attack chance – but it became clear: with speed you could do something against the high-ranking Dortmund team.
Reus misses the chance to take the lead at BVB
Werder became more courageous given the very limited possibilities and also blocked the space better at the back with a five-man chain when the opponent had the ball. Nevertheless, at the end of BVB’s best combination to date, Reus stood alone in front of Zetterer, but pushed the ball a few centimeters past the goal post (32nd).
Dortmund were clearly superior, but like Malen (45th/53rd) they were unfocused in the finish. Bremen, on the other hand, played their most promising counterattack very weakly in a 4-3 majority (43′), Gregor Kobel in the BVB goal almost seemed to be bored.
After an hour, the hosts tightened the ranks around the Bremen penalty area and slowly ran out of patience. The audience also became more restless. The leading Werder player only started the Dortmund build-up 40 meters from their own goal, and maximum concentration was required when moving the defensive chains. Defense chief Marco Friedl and Anthony Jung, his partner in central defense, continued to organize things well.
BVB coach Edin Terzic clapped his hands encouragingly; it took one brilliant idea: It came from Emre Can.