Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 Borussia Dortmund: Key Takeaways

Kobel heroics stifle Dortmund’s final deficit

The amount of times I’ve praised Gregor Kobel this season despite the fact that Dortmund haven’t kept a clean sheet in the league is astonishing. Over the course of six games, Dortmund have allowed 12 goals into their net, and yet, Kobel remains one of their strongest performers. Without him, the deficit would be far, far worse.

Kobel’s heroics didn’t really bail Dortmund out of a bad result per se, but the Swiss shot stopper did save Dortmund’s defense some blushes throughout this clash. On numerous occasions our porous back line allowed Gladbach into dangerous situations, inexplicably putting themselves under pressure where there should be none. Gladbach were allowed to create opportunity after opportunity, and if not for Kobel we could be looking at a 3 or 4-0 defeat.

BVB’s number one was quick off his line on a number of occasions as well, coming out to sweep up dangerous through balls that posed a threat to his side’s goal. His confidence on the ball is not to be understated; he showed quite a bit of that on Saturday. He was also crucial in smothering a dangerous shot from Gladbach’s Jonas Hoffmann, who threatened Dortmund’s goal from a tight angle. Kobel responded with cat like reflexes to deny the former Dortmund man.

It is unfortunate for Kobel in particular that Dortmund haven’t been able to keep a clean sheet in the league so far this season. The Swiss international has often put in a solid shift only to be left without the support he needs from the backline in front of him at times, which considering that it is comprised of most of the players who were out injured when the season began is startling, to say the least.