Review: Borussia Dortmund 0-0 VFL Wolfsburg

A draw at home against Wolfsburg to start the second half of the season saw Borussia Dortmund fall to fourth in the Bundesliga table. Here is a review of the game.

Starting XI:

Bürki; Piszczek, Sokratis, Toprak, Toljan; Weigl, Götze, Kagawa; Yarmolenko, Sancho, Isak

It was a young squad starting for the Black and Yellows, as both Alexander Isak and Jadon Sancho (18 and 17, respectively) got their first Bundesliga starts of the 2017-18 season. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was out for disciplinary reasons, while Pulisic missed the match due to a minor injury.

First half:

Dortmund started brightly, but Wolfsburg put good pressure on the home side throughout the match.

The first chance of the game came in the 20th minute. Yarmolenko put a lovely cross into the box that almost found Isak. The young Swede just missed the ball, which then fell to Sancho. Unfortunately, the winger was in an awkward position, and put his shot wide.

Wolfsburg had a chance of their own in the 31st minute. A pass from William on the left wing worked the ball to Yunus Malli the box. Malli had gave a little backheel nutmeg on Sokratis to give Divock Origi a chance a few yards away from Bürki’s goal. Toprak defended the Wolfsburg striker well though, and blocked Origi’s shot.

Wolfsburg’s best chance of the first half came in the 37th minute. Their captain, Paul Verhaegh, had a fantastic pass to Yunus Malli at the top of the box. Daniel Didavi made a run into the box behind him, and Malli found Didavi cleverly with another backheel. That put Didavi in on goal, but he was denied by a fantastic save from Bürki to keep the game 0-0.

Despite playing well throughout the first half, Dortmund’s best chance didn’t come until the 42nd minute. Götze passed the ball from outside the box in to Isak. The striker received the ball with a fantastic first touch to get the ball under control. He got a solid shot off despite being pressured by a Wolfsburg defender, but the ball slammed against the corner of the woodwork and went behind. It was an unlucky miss for Isak, but the pass from Götze was simply magnificent.

Second half:

Dortmund dominated right from the beginning of the second half. They were energetic and creative. The first 20 minutes of the second half was Dortmund’s best spell in the game. Their first chance came in the 48th minute. A long ball from Kagawa found Isak flying up the left wing around midfield on a counter attack. The striker did well to find Götze running into the box. Götze did well to dink the ball over his defender and place it right in front of goal, for either Yarmolenko or Sancho to run onto. It should have been an easy goal for either of them. Unfortunately, it was the Ukrainian who took the chance, and blasted it way over the bar. It was probably Dortmund’s best chance of the whole game, and a miss Yarmolenko won’t soon forget.

Dortmund’s next chance came in the 53rd minute. Yarmolenko found Kagawa brilliantly running into the box. The Japanese midfielder then ripped a pass across the face of goal. The ball flew out of reach of Isak in the middle of the box, but sped past him towards Sancho. The winger saw it too late and didn’t connect with the ball the way he wanted. Despite the keeper being far out of position, Sancho’s shot bounced against the post and away from danger.

Wolfsburg then had a couple of chances against the run of play. In the 58th minute, Josuha Guilavogui played a defense-splitting pass to Origi, who got into a one on one position with Bürki. The Swiss keeper flew out of his box to meet the striker, and came up with a big save to keep the score level.

Wolfsburg’s next chance came in the 66th minute, with a fantastic cross from Origi on the right side to Renato Steffen, who’d just been subbed on. Steffan managed to get his head against the ball, but his shot went well wide after good defending by Piszczek.

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Wolfsburg started to work their way back into the match. Dortmund looked less energetic going forward and less confident in possession. They stopped dominating Wolfsburg the way they had at the beginning of the half. Dortmund’s last real chance came in the 82nd minute. Sokratis ran the ball from around the halfway line through much of the Wolfsburg defense and up the right wing. The center-back whipped a cross all the way to Sancho, but the winger’s first touch let him down. Me managed to get the ball under control and put up a shot, but it got deflected and went wide. The game ended as a 0-0 draw.

Conclusion:

Despite the frustrating result, there are some positives to take away from the match. Dortmund’s defense was far more solid than we’d seen throughout the first half of the season. Improving defensively has been a priority for coach Peter Stöger, so it’s reassuring to see progress in that aspect of Dortmund’s game.

Unfortunately, it must also be noted that Yarmolenko threw a number of chances away. The winger had a few howlers in the first half of the season, and therf

DORTMUND, GERMANY – JANUARY 14: Jadon Sancho /

The other main question to be answered from this match was how Dortmund’s offense would fare with so much youth up top. Unfortunately, Sancho and Isak were unable to get their team on the scoresheet, but they put in fairly solid performances from a more creative standpoint. Sancho had a number of skillful moments, including a cheeky nutmeg on one of the Wolfsburg defenders, and showed that he can add a creative dimension to Dortmund’s game. Isak had a number of good passes and linked up well with the players around him. Both youngsters also had goals denied by the frame of the goal. While their performances weren’t stellar, both will be happy — if a little frustrated — with their how they played against Wolfsburg. And it’ll be exciting to see what they’ll be able to come up with in the months to come.

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Review: Borussia Dortmund 0-0 VFL Wolfsburg; BVB pay for missed chances

By Asher Woodbury | Jan 15, 2018