Borussia Dortmund haunted by defensive errors in 4-3 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen

Borussia Dortmund let their lead slip once again, as two goals in the space of a minute helped Bayer Leverkusen come from behind and win 4-3.

With Marco Reus out injured, Lucien Favre decided to change his formation, and revert to a back four. Emre Can came into the team for his first Borussia Dortmund start, with Raphael Guerreiro returning to his left-back role. Manuel Akanji was moved to right back, with Achraf Hakimi playing further forward down the wing.

The game got off to a fast start, with both teams looking to take an early advantage. It was Bayer Leverkusen who took the lead, with Kevin Volland getting on the end of Nadiem Amiri‘s long ball, before easily beating Akanji and finding the bottom corner.

Borussia Dortmund responded instantly through Mats Hummels, who met Jadon Sancho‘s corner with a powerful header and made it 1-1.

Bayer Leverkusen had the ball inside the net again just two minutes later. But Moussa Diaby had come back from an offside position before volleying his shot into the net, and the goal was ruled out.

Eight minutes later, Emre Can announced his arrival at Borussia Dortmund with a sumptuous curling effort from 30 yards out, leaving Hradecky with absolutely no chance. The Black and Yellows started to dominate after taking the lead. But they got a bit too comfortable at the back, allowing Kevin Volland to equalise on the stroke of half time.

Julian Brandt was taken off at half time, presumably suffering the effects of a rough first half tackle from Lars Bender, with Gio Reyna coming on to replace him.

Borussia Dortmund started the second half on the front foot, and thought they had taken the lead through Jadon Sancho. But Reyna had fouled Lars Bender in the build-up, and the goal was chalked off after VAR consultation.

They finally got their lead ten minutes later, this time through Raphael Guerreiro, who passed the ball into the net after some good interplay between Haaland, Sancho and Hakimi.

But the story that we have seen so often in the last 12 months then repeated itself, as Borussia Dortmund conceded two late goals, allowing Leverkusen to turn the game around on its head. First, Leon Bailey swept home on the rebound after Emre Can blocked Volland’s initial effort. Then, Lars Bender headed past Roman Bürki less than a minute later, to make it 4-3.

Borussia Dortmund have blown some incredible leads under Lucien Favre, but this one is right up there, considering how comfortable Dortmund were, and how ordinary Leverkusen looked for large parts of the game.

Silly, avoidable mistakes from the players and the head coach continue to hurt this team every other weekend. And if they don’t stop soon, the title challenge will quickly go up in flames.