10-man Borussia Dortmund suffer narrow defeat against Borussia Mönchengladbach
It was an unhappy return to the Borussia-Park for Marco Rose as Borussia Mönchengladbach handed Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 defeat.
The absences of Erling Haaland and Marco Reus were sorely felt as Borussia Dortmund failed to register a shot on target over the course of the 90 minutes. And while Borussia Mönchengladbach did not fare much better, Denis Zakaria’s first half strike was enough to help them secure the three points. To make matters worse for the Black and Yellows, Mahmoud Dahoud was sent off in the first half.
Borussia Dortmund received a double injury blow leading up to the game, as Erling Haaland (muscle) and Marco Reus (knee) both suffered injuries that forced them to miss out. Marco Rose decided to change his formation to a 3-5-2, with Donyell Malen and Youssoufa Moukoko starting up front.
The game got off to a lively start with neither team looking to hold anything back. It was a physical contest with not much in the way of chances in the first half. Gladbach opened the scoring with the first shot on target in the 37th minute. Denis Zakaria made it 1-0, and the goal had a big stroke of luck involved. Mats Hummels’ tackle deflected off of Jude Bellingham’s foot and landed into the path of Zakaria, who coolly finished past Gregor Kobel.
Things went from bad to worse for Borussia Dortmund just three minutes later, as Mahmoud Dahoud was sent off after receiving a rather harsh second yellow card.
Marco Rose responded by bringing on Thorgan Hazard in place of Marin Pongracic at half time. Borussia Dortmund looked a lot more dangerous in the second half, but weren’t able to find much space in behind the Gladbach defence. And when they did manage to get into some good positions, they lacked the clinical edge in front of goal.
Gladbach held on for the win in the end, handing the Black and Yellows their second league defeat of the season. Marco Rose’s side showed great resilience in the second half. But Dahoud’s sending off meant that getting something out of this game was always going to be very difficult, especially with Reus and Haaland out injured.
Next. Borussia Dortmund player ratings from 1-0 defeat to Gladbach. dark
Borussia Dortmund must quickly shake off this defeat, as their next game (against Sporting CP in the Champions League) is just three days away.