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Borussia Dortmund Into Quarter Finals of DFB-Pokal

By John Harbeck

DORTMUND, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 8: Ousmane Dembele (L) and Roman Burki (R) of Borussia Dortmund celebrate during penalty shoot-out of the DFB Cup match between Borussia Dortmund and Hertha BSC Berlin at the Signal Iduna Park stadium in Dortmund, Germany on February 08, 2017. (Photo by Leon Kuegeler/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
DORTMUND, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 8: Ousmane Dembele (L) and Roman Burki (R) of Borussia Dortmund celebrate during penalty shoot-out of the DFB Cup match between Borussia Dortmund and Hertha BSC Berlin at the Signal Iduna Park stadium in Dortmund, Germany on February 08, 2017. (Photo by Leon Kuegeler/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) /
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We knew it was going to be a hard-fought battle if Borussia Dortmund were going to triumph over Hertha Berlin.  Both clubs are vying for a Champions League birth and are bonafide contenders to lift the DFB-Pokal.

Well, Borussia Dortmund certainly didn’t make it easy for themselves as they once again failed to finish a bountiful harvest of chances set before them in winning a narrow cup tie on penalties 3-2.

With an unchanged line-up from the weekend that Thomas Tuchel sent out, Borussia Dortmund took the initiative from the outset.  From the early kickoff, the squad set about creating chances that largely went without a quality finish.

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Ousmane Dembele was again at the center of that effort.  The emerging star was allowed to float in and out of positions but mostly played on the right or through the middle.  He slithered past his mark time and again to set up Aubamyeang and Marco Rues.  It just wasn’t to be in the first half.

With Dembele’s magical work becoming a consistent theme, another consistent theme reared its ugly head.  Both Sokratis and Marc Bartra were guilty of misplaying situations that led to direct turnovers for Hertha Berlin chances.

Sokratis before even ten minutes seemed to fall asleep with the ball at his feet.  With his back to goal and no other defender close, Sokratis allowed Vedad Ibisevic to swipe in and steal the ball.  He was one on one with Burki and on another day may have gotten a flailing Sokratis sent off when he trying to recover.

Bartra’s misplay ultimately led to the Hertha goal in the first half.  He tried a lazy pass in the defensive third and in the ensuing chaos Lukasz Piszczek was victimized once again on a back post cross.  All of these goals seem to sing the same tune every week and it is amazing that Borussia Dortmund hasn’t figured out a method to fix the problem.

Next: What does Omer Toprak bring to Borussia Dortmund lineup?

Thomas Tuchel went away from his 3-5-2 in the second half bringing on Christian Pulisic and Matthias Ginter to form more of a 4-1-4-1 or 4-3-3 depending on your interpretation.  The payoff was immediate as Dembele was given too much space and fired a shot only for it to be deflected right back to him for and easy pass to Pulisic who in turn found Reus for the goal.

The score would remain at 1-1 until penalties was forced to break the deadlock.  This is where the controversial decision to bench Roman Weidenfeller from his promised cup role paid off.  Burki made a couple of saves and with the exception of a Pulisic miss, Borussia Dortmund was through to the quarter-finals in a match that was much closer than perhaps it should have been.

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