Borussia Dortmund beaten by VfL Bochum in second friendly of the day

Borussia Dortmund were far from their best once again as they suffered a 3-1 defeat to VfL Bochum in their second pre-season friendly of the day.

Just 30 minutes after being held to a 1-1 draw by Paderborn, Borussia Dortmund returned to the pitch to face second division side VfL Bochum albeit with a completely different line-up. The team was led by Mats Hummels, and also featured the likes of Jude Bellingham, Axel Witsel, Thorgan Hazard, Julian Brandt as well as a number of youngsters from the second team.

Borussia Dortmund were second best right from the off, and found it hard to create any decent chances as Bochum kept things tight defensively. The 2. Bundesliga side also looked dangerous going forward and took the lead in the 16th minute after pouncing on Luca Unbehaun’s error as Silvère Ganvoula found the net. Ten minutes later, Ganvoula turned from scorer to provider as his cross was headed home by Simon Zoller to make it 2-0.

Bochum continued to defend well, limiting Dortmund largely to sideways and backwards passes in midfield. And they were rewarded for their resolve just 30 seconds into the second half after Marius Wolf’s poor back-pass was cut short by Ganvoula, who rounded past Unbehaun to give his side a three goal cushion.

Borussia Dortmund did create a few decent chances after Bochum’s third, but had to wait until the 67th minute to get on the score-sheet. It was Mats Hummels who pulled a goal back with a superb turn and finish from close range after a nice give and go with Richmond Tachie. That proved to be the Black and Yellows’ only goal of the game, although Jude Bellingham and Thorgan Hazard both came close to halving the deficit late on.

The defeat combined with the 1-1 draw with Paderborn earlier means that there is still plenty of work to be done for Lucien Favre and co. heading into the new season. Although ultimately results in pre-season don’t matter much. And considering the fact that at least half of the players who played today will not be playing much (if it all) this season, there’s no need to worry just yet.