Borussia Dortmund: Pure Joy In Win Over Leverkusen

The goals just never stopped flowing for Borussia Dortmund, from the sixth minute, all the way to the 91st. BVB just refused to be denied.

Look, the statheads have been saying it for awhile, Borussia Dortmund was simply not living up to the quality of chances created. Against Benfica, they had the highest ever expected goals for a club that was shutout. Today, those chances finally began to fall. Ultimately the score finally rested with BVB dominating 6-2, despite several quality chances still left unfinished.

The madness of the exciting day began early. From the start, BVB set about creating chances and Bayern Leverkusen was all too happy to oblige. Finally, though Ousmane Dembele found the ball pop out near the top of the box. With one deft quick touch, the young attacker created space for a perfectly placed right-footed shot into the corner making it 1-0.

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Seemingly frustrated by their defensive shortcomings, Bayern Leverkusen was forced into persistent hard fouling tactics. Midfielder Charles Aránguiz was left spinning like a top on multiple occasions before he finally decided to take some rough measures to keep up. It resulted in a yellow card after only 16 minutes. That first quarter of the match set the tone. Bayern Leverkusen often had no other option, but to foul and Borussia Dortmund commendably kept their head and fought back with goals.

It didn’t take too long before BVB scored their second with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang snapping on a fortunate deflection from a Marc Bartra headed corner. Aubameyang found himself just a yard from goal and suddenly his scoring misfortune seemed like a thing well behind him. It was 2-0 BVB after 26 minutes.

Not long after that goal, Aubameyang had an opportunity to put the match away for good. Dembele rifled past his mark on the right and slipped in a perfect pass, setting Aubameyang up again just yards away from goal. It was a tap in really, but perhaps a funky bounce meant Aubameyang whiffed.

That is how the two teams would go into the half time break.

Bayern Leverkusen came back strong after the break with Kevin Volland jumping on some sloppy BVB defending to beat Burki at his near post on a charging run. Suddenly after only three minutes into the second half, the score was 2-1.

The match went up and down with chances for both sides. It was a nervy time for Borussia Dortmund and their fans. Then man of the match, Ousmane Dembele lightly lifted a cross that an attacking Aubameyang couldn’t help but score in the 69th minute.

Again the two-goal lead wouldn’t last long as Bayern Leverkusen fought back once again and a classic free kick goal from Brazilian Wendell curved into the net in the 74th minute. 3-2 was the score.

At this point, American Christian Pulisic decided to take over. He ran at defender after defender to create problems for Bayern Leverkusen. The young winger scored a goal on a late run into the box to make it 4-2. Then after an Andre Schurrle penalty made it 5-2, Pulisic set up Raphael Guerreiro for an easy goal in the 91st minute.

Next: Is 3-5-2 Here To Stay?

The wild back and forth match had world class goals, but also many opportunities that went unfinished. If not for some sloppy play in the final third, Bayern Leverkusen could have had a number of quality chances. The Aubameyang whiff tops the list for Borussia Dortmund as they too had chances to score even more than six.

All told, the three points that BVB was able to pick up is massive as they are now six points clear of the 5th placed Hertha Berlin.

Next up is Benfica, Wednesday in a huge Champions League second leg.

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