Borussia Dortmund Victorious, But Only Just

Borussia Dortmund has won their biggest match since the winter break and in the process build a great deal of confidence going forward. It wasn’t all rosy, however, as the boys in yellow and black benefited from the narrowest of offside calls at the death.

Win, draw, or loss, Borussia Dortmund seem to have a flair for late match dramatics and this week against RB Leipzig the trend continued. Only needing to clear the ball one last time to secure a 1-0 victory, BVB were absolutely bailed out by the side official who called an offside on a play that would have been the tying goal. The call couldn’t have been closer either way and the long time RB Leipzig supporters who made the journey have to be disappointed.

Ultimately Borussia Dortmund deserved to win the match and it could have been much more lopsided than 1-0.

More from BVB Buzz

Like many big matches, this particular 2nd vs 4th battle began with two sides that were extremely energetic. All twenty outfield players were flying around for the first fifteen minutes or so, just swinging wildly trying to make an immediate impact. Due to this, the match didn’t find an early rhythm and that could almost be said for the entire match.

While Borussia Dortmund did technically enjoy a possession advantage 55%-41%, it never seemed as if they were ever comfortable on the ball. Particularly in the middle or attacking third, RB Leipzig never allowed more than a second on the ball without a tackle or a foul.

When not in possession Borussia Dortmund employed similar tactics. They were aiming to win the ball as far up the field as possible, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang almost dispossessed Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi on one occasion.

The somewhat disjointed foul/tackle fest continued throughout as the two clubs combined to commit a whopping 32 fouls and 54 tackles according to whoscored.com. Credit has to go to match official Tobias Stieler who called a very good match and kept control of it throughout. We have all seen big matches that spiral out of control in similar circumstances.

Despite the lack of cohesion in the match for either side, Borussia Dortmund dominated, none the less. They piled on the pressure until the very end capping the chances with a Matthias Ginter shot that was cleared off the line by a Leipzig defender.

This aspect of the match was very encouraging because, since the winter break, BVB have pulled their foot off the gas pedal after fifteen minutes. Perhaps it had to to with the home support, or maybe it had to do with the squad learning to keep the intensity and focus high for 90 minutes. Whatever it was, BVB looked much better. Multiple players could be seen animatedly shouting and encouraging teammates to stay focused and keep the pressure high on Leipzig.

The lone goal came in the middle of the first half at the 35′ mark. Ousmane Dembele continued to build a solid highlight package from this season, beating two defenders and powering past them to put an easier to score than not header on Aubameyang’s head. Here are the highlights:

At that point, you couldn’t help but wonder just how BVB were going to respond. Was it going to be the timid, lackadaisical effort from the past two weeks? Or were they going to put their foot down and take the match?

Next: Borussia Dortmund all over team of Hinrunde

In the end, it was probably some of both. Steps were certainly taken in the right direction, but the late bailout was almost two points dropped. Thomas Tuchel even inserted some logical defensive substitutes to kill off the match and tactically adapted to a more defensive approach. Matthias Ginter came on for Raphael Guerreiro and played defensive midfield beside Julian Weigl and the formation moved to a four-man backline. All told, Borussia Dortmund fans can’t be happier. That was the kind of effort that will be needed to secure a top three spot and make a push to win the DFB-Pokal and make a deep run in the Champions League.

Stay tuned for more post-match analysis.

Home/Borussia Dortmund News