Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 Borussia Dortmund: Key Takeaways
Dahoud’s red card blunts Dortmund’s already depleted midfield
One of the most striking features of this season for Borussia Dortmund so far has been the absolute decimation of the squad due to injuries over the course of the first 6 games. Initially, the defense was thin, with stalwarts like Mats Hummels and Raphael Guerreiro out missing games due to injuries.
With their return, we may now have a creativity crisis on our hands. The likes of Julian Brandt and Gio Reyna were absent for the clash at Borussia-Park, and Marco Reus picked up a knock in training, albeit his time on the sidelines looks to be short. Thorgan Hazard is only returning from injury, which means he is far from running on all cylinders.
This lengthy list of players still not up to speed made Mahmoud Dahoud’s red card in this match all the more of a turning point in the game. Rose had a limited bench to call upon to help spark a Dortmund resurgence. Dortmund went down to 10 men, and the connection between midfield and attack was severed. Jude Bellingham has been a very important creative outlet for Dortmund and tried to continue in this vein against Gladbach, but without support was unable to carry the load at the middle of the park on his own.
Without going into too much detail about the red card, I will say that the call was harsh, but at the same time Dahoud’s reaction was unnecessary in the situation. Composure is important especially when one’s team is down a goal and a yellow card has already been shown. Despite this, Deniz Aytekin’s decision comes off as rather impulsive and rash considering there were other players on the pitch that indeed displayed frustration in lieu of his decisions and did not receive the same treatment, despite being on a yellow card.
Final thoughts
The course of Borussia Dortmund’s season seems to have shifted as they now sit in fourth place, four points behind Bayern Munich after six match days. A superb start has been marred by yet another injury crisis. Marco Rose has his work cut out for him in the coming weeks to make sure that Dortmund’s form doesn’t spiral.
Borussia Dortmund player ratings from 1-0 defeat to Gladbach. dark. Next
Rose’s charges will now look to their Champions League clash against Sporting this Tuesday, with the aim of getting their second win of the group stage. It still remains to be seen if Marco Reus and Erling Haaland can return to the pitch by then, but Dortmund will be hoping their returns will be swift so that they can get back on track in the games to come.