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| Dortmund players in celebration of a goal. Credit: Sportschau |
Borussia Dortmund kept its clean slate against TSG Hoffenheim on matchday 6 of the Bundesliga (3-1) and is now greetings from the top of the table, at least for one night. The road to victory turned out to be extremely rocky for BVB; Dortmund’s appearance had nothing to do with aesthetics. Ultimately, Edin Terzic could rely on his unsung heroes. Three things that stood out.
The clean slate suits Borussia Dortmund well.
Across all seasons, BVB has now been without defeat for 14 games and is – at least for one night – top of the Bundesliga table. Given those numbers, this almost sounds like a logical consequence. The last time Black-Yellow had such a series was five years ago under Lucien Favre. But the manner of Dortmund’s success could hardly be more different.
Phases of static behavior and numerous blatant ball losses repeatedly got Dortmund into trouble in their happy 3-1 (2-1) win at TSG Hoffenheim.
But in the end, the runner-up was able to make it to the top of the Bundesliga with boredom and no sexiness at all – partly because of some unsung heroes who made the difference after Ramy Bensebaini was sent off (71′).
The fact that Football Germany congratulated Borussia and not Hoffenheim on leading the table on Friday evening was due to TSG’s lack of maturity.
Three things that stood out to us at TSG Hoffenheim against Borussia Dortmund.
1.) UNSEXY AND UN-BVB-LIKE – BUT NOBODY CARES IN DORTMUND
Edin Terzic already knew it himself. When the 40-year-old answered questions at the “DAZN” microphone after the victory over Hoffenheim and the championship lead, he announced his well-known sermon in advance. “Every now and then there is the same record of mine,” joked Terzic. What did he mean by that? The rocky road to Dortmund’s victory.
“The bottom line is: we started the game really well, took control and created two good chances,” he explained. Almost logically, the runner-up went ahead after 18 minutes through Niclas Füllkrug.
But then the old BVB story began. “We unnecessarily lost balls in the build-up game and repeatedly invited the opponent to become dangerous. The phase after the penalty wasn’t good for us, it took us far too long to get back into the game.”
In fact, Dortmund’s game seemed choppy after Andrej Kramaric’s equalizer from the spot (25′). Marco Reus’s new opening goal immediately before the end of the first round (45th + 3) didn’t change that.
At the start of the second half, BVB were lucky twice when Gregor Kobel impressively parried against Grischa Prömel (48′) and Robert Skov hit his free kick onto the crossbar (51′). The Dortmund team found themselves in a Hoffenheim headlock; relief in the form of an attack was an absolute scarce commodity in this phase.
The sending off of Ramy Bensebaini (71′) was ultimately the turning point – curiously enough for Dortmund. “After the yellow-red card it was a different game,” said Terzic. “We showed a different face and revealed what it means to defend a victory.” Julian Ryerson ultimately made the final decision after a brilliant solo run (90th+5).
Despite the runner-up’s poor performance at times, the performance on Friday evening was “a development that we like,” emphasized Terzic. “It was an important win for us, but there is still room for improvement.”
In the end, Terzic easily shook off the criticism of the last few weeks. “There’s no team ahead of us tonight,” he said, responding to the accusation of Dortmund’s unaesthetic style of play. “Sometimes you eat things that aren’t quite as tasty – but they fill you up. And we’re going home full today.”
And why not? As long as the results are right, people in Dortmund are content with boredom and a lack of sexiness – goalkeeper Kobel also emphasized that. “That’s not a problem at all. As far as I’m concerned, it can continue like this,” said the 25-year-old. “If we win the games, I think we can play even more boring football.”
2.) DORTMUND’S SECRET HEROES
With Füllkrug and Reus, two big names put Dortmund in the lead and thus put themselves in the spotlight. But as is so often the case in football – a successful attack isn’t everything. Due to the numerous ball losses and tricky situations in their own third, the Dortmund backline was particularly challenged. BVB was challenged to the maximum in all its departments. The decision was ultimately made in detail, as Kobel confirmed.
“We did our job,” he said, referring to the team’s performance. Although the game was decided thanks to an “excellent individual action” by Ryerson, without Nico Schlotterbeck’s rescue action a few moments earlier in his own box in dire need against Mergim Berisha, Dortmund’s relief would never have come about. “These are small things, but that’s what it’s all about,” explained Kobel.
“It may not be a particularly spectacular highlight, but that’s what matters,” emphasized the former Stuttgart player. “If Berisha takes a shot, we’ll be annoyed – but Nico was there. Today there were many who were there in the important moments and did their job.”
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Julian Ryerson and Emre Can (Borussia Dortmund) celebrate the victory in Hoffenheim.
Terzic also took the same line, whose first route after the final whistle went towards Schlotterbeck. “That was a key moment. It’s the centimeters, the willingness to defend the goal. That’s what made it possible for us to be able to counterattack again. That’s what made Nico outstanding in this situation.”
The icing on the cake for Schlotterbeck’s strong clearance was Ryerson, who completed his 70-meter solo from his own half with the goal to make it 3-1. This crowned the Norwegian’s golden evening: the 25-year-old won 85 percent of his duels, and ten ball conquests were Dortmund’s best on Friday evening.
Ryerson was then named Man of the Match – and was still in the spotlight as Dortmund’s hero.
3.) HOFFENHEIM DOESN’T REWARD ITSELF
While Dortmund can at least make themselves comfortable at the top of the table for one evening, on the other hand there is a club that just missed out on making it to number one.
Hoffenheim appeared self-confident throughout the entire game in the PreZero Arena, repeatedly forcing Dortmund to make blatant mistakes in the build-up – including in the equalizer to make it 1-1.
Mats Hummels made a hair-raising bad pass in the 23rd minute that landed right at Anton Stach. The Hoffenheim player made his way into the penalty area and was eventually brought down by Hummels. Kramaric safely converted the penalty that was due.
However, it was to be TSG’s last feeling of luck that evening, despite numerous great chances. Whether Skov’s attempt from the second line (35th), Prömel’s header from five meters (48th) or Skov’s free kick against the crossbar (51st) – the opportunities were there, but Hoffenheim simply didn’t reward themselves. Curiously, TSG completely missed the goal during the 25-minute majority.
“We weren’t bad until the red card and had a good phase,” said Stach, summing up Hoffenheim’s performance. “After that, we lacked a bit of maturity to take advantage of the situations and bring the ball into the box. We simply didn’t create enough chances. That’s what ultimately failed us. It’s a real shame that we weren’t able to take anything with us today.”