Borussia Dortmund throw away points in frustrating draw against Frankfurt

Borussia Dortmund went ahead twice against Frankfurt and were still unable to see out the win, with Frankfurt scoring in the 89th minute to get a draw.

Borussia Dortmund really should have picked up all three points in this game. Not because they were completely dominant but because they went up 1-0 and then 2-1 later in the game. There can no longer be any excuses when they throw away a lead late in games as we have seen it all too often in 2019. The pitch seemed to be absolutely horrendous in Dortmund’s defense and it definitely impacted the black and yellows more than Frankfurt. They really struggled early on to get their passing under control with the ball bouncing all over the place.

Although Dortmund weren’t at their best to start the game they were still able to assert some dominance early on, Axel Witsel was the first to capitalize. Kevin Trapp made a great save off a Jadon Sancho shot inside the 18 yard box. It then fell to Thorgan Hazard out wide who found Witsel in mid stride to finish it in the bottom corner. Achraf Hakimi nearly made it 2-0 in the first half but Trapp was able to get a hand on his shot that was heading towards the bottom corner.

Dortmund weren’t able to see out the half though, Andre Silva was left wide open in the 18 yard box and Djibril Sow made no mistake in finding him. It was poor marking by Akanji and Hummels who easily could have made sure this goal didn’t happen. Hummels started off on Silva and when Sow beat Guerreiro down the wing, he shifted over and Akanji failed to do so leaving Silva wide open. Akanji instead was left standing, marking no one while Silva fired home.

In the second half, Dortmund had several chances to score but Jadon Sancho was the one to convert.  Raphael Guerreiro’s free-kick was saved by Trapp and the rebound fell to Witsel who smartly played it across goal to Sancho who made no mistake. Sancho, Reus and Alcacer all had great chances to seal the game for Dortmund and couldn’t convert. Reus sent Sancho in alone with a through ball but Trapp was able to keep it out with his leg, not the best shot from Sancho who should have scored. Alcacer and Sancho had an odd man rush and Alcacer elected to shoot instead of playing Sancho through and it was a wasteful shot that didn’t bother Trapp. Lastly, Gotze found Reus with an exceptional cut back at the penalty spot and Reus shot it right at Trapp who was able to make the save.

In the final 10-15 minutes, the game turned into a very back and forth affair and Frankfurt were the ones to capitalize. Chandler found Hinteregger on a high arching cross who flashed the ball across goal. It made it all the way to the other side to Kamada who once again flashed a shot across goal. Delaney tried to block the cross and ended up firing into the Dortmund goal.

One thing that has become very evident from this game is that some rotation is required. Several Dortmund players were very poor including Reus, Sancho and Alcacer. Julian Brandt and Mario Gotze definitely deserve a start next game. Gotze came on and completely changed the game today. Jacob Bruun Larsen must have been channeling his inner Cristiano Ronaldo in training because I can’t see any other reason he has been used over Mario Götze in recent weeks. Mario Götze offers so much in game that it looks so dumb that he hasn’t been used up to this point.

Next week’s game against Werder Bremen will be important for Dortmund to bounce back in the Bundesliga.