Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-2 Borussia Dortmund: More set-piece woes for BVB

Borussia Dortmund matched their Bundesliga loss tally from last season as they suffered a 4-2 defeat away to top four rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday.

The game didn’t start off well for Borussia Dortmund as Gladbach had the ball in the back of the net within the first minute after Jude Bellingham lost possession on the edge of the box. But luckily for Dortmund, VAR disallowed the goal for a foul on the midfielder. The home side were moving the ball well in the first 5 minutes and Hofmann came close to finding the bottom corner, but Bürki did well to keep the ball out.

Gladbach were finally rewarded for their early pressure goal after Elvedi headed Hofmann’s cross from a free kick into the bottom corner to make it 1-0. Although there was a VAR check for offside, the decision did not go Dortmund’s way this time.

Mönchengladbach were pressing with a front two, blocking the passing lanes into Emre Can and Jude Bellingham, forcing Dortmund to go wide. This led to the Black and Yellows struggling to build up through the thirds and resulted in Hummels and Akanji needing to go long to Haaland who struggled to retain possession in the early stages as he was up against three centre-halves.

Sancho was Borussia Dortmund’s main source of creativity and it was no surprise that he was involved in the equaliser. The Englishman received the ball in the left half space, turned and cut inside before playing it in behind to Erling Haaland who kept his composure to find the back of the net.

Gladbach dropped back slightly to manage the next few minutes as Dortmund were now pushing on for a second goal. In the 25th minute, Manuel Akanji and Emre Can both came close to scoring after they had shots blocked in the box, with the latter’s effort being cleared off the line and onto the post. Just three minutes later, Dortmund made it 2-1 and again it was a Jadon Sancho assist for an Erling Haaland goal. Some good link up play between Sancho and Bellingham to get the ball in the box, with the number 7 then setting up Haaland, who powered the ball passed Sommer.

Dortmund’s lead did not last for long, however, after Bürki parried a free-kick right back into danger for Elvedi to tap into an open goal to get his second goal of the game. Both sides were now going for a third goal and Dortmund should have potentially got one, after Sancho had the opportunity to play Marco Reus through on goal but his pass was overhit and the chance was gone. Sancho had now moved to the right side of midfield and he came close to scoring after his low shot aimed towards the far bottom corner went just wide of the post.

Dortmund were now pressing in twos to try and put pressure on the Gladbach defence when they were in possession, however the home side countered this by pushing the goalkeeper up in line with the centre backs to maintain their numerical advantage. An action packed first half ended with not much to separate the two sides.

The home side took the lead once again early on in the second half after Bensebaini cut in to his right foot and unleashed a shot into the far corner, which was too powerful for Bürki to stop. Gladbach then came close to adding a fourth just moments minutes later after Akanji’s poor touch in the opposition half led to a counter attack, but Plea’s attempt after going through on goal just went wide.

Dortmund were slightly narrower in the front two when pressing now to try and stop the ball going through the middle and force Gladbach to play to the outside centre-backs. On the ball however, they were focusing more on playing to the wide players to send the ball into the box to Haaland. But the Norwegian was struggling to find space in the box up against the Gladbach defenders. Brandt was holding the width on the right with Sancho and Guerreiro alternating on the wide left.

As Dortmund continued to push for the equaliser, Jude Bellingham was pushing further up leaving Emre Can as the sole midfielder which increased the threat of the counterattack. Edin Terzić made his first substitution of the game, bringing on Gio Reyna for Marco Reus. In the 74th minute, Guerreiro had a good chance to score as he rocketed a shot at the keeper, but Sommer did well to keep it out.

A few minutes later, Thuram marked his return from suspension by scoring Gladbach’s fourth as Dortmund endured yet more set-piece trouble. Terzić decided to go more attacking now by taking off Jude Bellingham and bringing on 16-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko. Despite this, for the remainder of the game Dortmund couldn’t create any real chances to get a goal back and get themselves back in the game. Late on however, Moukoko forced a save from Sommer with a powerful shot from the edge of the box.

Gladbach held on to claim their first win over the Black and Yellows sine 2015, and displacing their opponents in the top four.

Borussia Dortmund welcome Augsburg next weekend in the Bundesliga and will be looking to get a win and get back into form. They are currently games without a win and will need to change that quickly if they have any hopes of a place in the top four this season.