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Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Borussia Dortmund: Review; BVB fail to beat 10-men Leverkusen

By Oliver Campo

Dortmund's Ukrainian forward Andriy Yarmolenko reacts during the German First division Bundesliga football match Bayer Leverkusen vs Borussia Dortmund on December 2, 2017 in Leverkusen, western Germany. / AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ / RESTRICTIONS: DURING MATCH TIME: DFL RULES TO LIMIT THE ONLINE USAGE TO 15 PICTURES PER MATCH AND FORBID IMAGE SEQUENCES TO SIMULATE VIDEO. == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE == FOR FURTHER QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT DFL DIRECTLY AT 49 69 650050 (Photo credit should read PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)
Dortmund's Ukrainian forward Andriy Yarmolenko reacts during the German First division Bundesliga football match Bayer Leverkusen vs Borussia Dortmund on December 2, 2017 in Leverkusen, western Germany. / AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ / RESTRICTIONS: DURING MATCH TIME: DFL RULES TO LIMIT THE ONLINE USAGE TO 15 PICTURES PER MATCH AND FORBID IMAGE SEQUENCES TO SIMULATE VIDEO. == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE == FOR FURTHER QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT DFL DIRECTLY AT 49 69 650050 (Photo credit should read PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Borussia Dortmund continued their poor run of form as they struggled to a 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen, despite the home site being down to 10-men.

Borussia Dortmund and Peter Bosz faced adversity after the result of the match against Schalke last week. Bosz came into a must-win game against Bayer Leverkusen and walked away with a draw. To make things worse, Maximilian Philipp and Castro picked up serious looking injuries in this game adding more issues to a backsliding Dortmund.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was unavailable for Bosz in this match due to a red card suspension in the last match. While Mario Gotze was also missing after suffering an injury last weekend.

First Half

Borussia Dortmund’s Philipp had to go off after just five minutes. He fell awkwardly on his knee and had to be stretchered off, with Schurrle replacing him. BVB didn’t have a real chance until the 16th minute when Yarmolenko’s attempt was blocked. BVB had a bit of a defensive mindset after losing Philipp.

At the half hour mark, Volland capitalized on a defensive mistake from the Dortmund defense and gave Bayer the lead. Burki ran far out of the box leaving the net wide open. Bayer 1 and Dortmund 0, the scene became familiar.

Maximilian Philipp was one of two injured players for Dortmund. Gonzalo Castro suffered the other injury. Peter Bosz's injury trouble went from bad to worse.
Maximilian Philipp suffered a severe knee injury after just five minutes. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images) /

Around the 39 minute mark, Sahin got a yellow card for a slide tackle on Bender. Two minutes later, Borussia Dortmund got a chance to counter, but Wendell’s foul on Gonzalo Castro earned him a red card after consultation with the Video Assistant Referee.

Castro was unable to shake off the challenge and had to be replaced by Kagawa. The first half ended with Bayer in front, but down to 10 men, with Dortmund losing two players due to injury.

Second Half

Dortmund made a bright start after the break as they made efforts to break down Bayer’s defense. These attempts didn’t lead to a goal, but BVB looked in control being a man up. Kagawa got involved when possible to force the attack up.

LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY – DECEMBER 02: Andrey Yarmolenko of Borussia Dortmund celebrates after scoring the goal to the 1:1 during the Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund at BayArena on December 02, 2017 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images)
LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY – DECEMBER 02: Andrey Yarmolenko of Borussia Dortmund celebrates after scoring the goal to the 1:1 during the Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund at BayArena on December 02, 2017 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images) /

The match continued its slow pace as if BVB had no energy out on the pitch even though the advantage was with the away team. However, at the 73 minute mark, Andriy Yaromlenko found the back of the net after a good cross by Andre Schurrle.

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Prior to the goal though, Dortmund’s defense almost got exposed again in the. But Burki came to the rescue once again. The match itself could have gone either way at that point.

Dahoud got the nod to come on for Weigl and the game would head into the last 10 minutes. Both teams fought to get a game-winning goal, but neither would be successful. Borussia Dortmund were hanging on towards the end, as despite being a man down, Bayer were creating better opportunities. But Roman Burki would not be beaten again, the Swiss international was Dortmund’s best player on the pitch.

For Borussia Dortmund, after being a man up for a majority of the game, the result is disappointing. It’s unlikely that Peter Bosz will get the sack yet, but a lot needs to be changed if Borussia Dortmund are to finish in the Top 4 this season.

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