TSG Hoffenheim 2-3 Borussia Dortmund: Key Takeaways

Borussia Dortmund were away to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim this past weekend, with the two teams producing yet another 5 goal thriller at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena.

It just isn’t a Bundesliga matchday for Borussia Dortmund fans unless you have yet another edge of your seat, close finish to sit through. Die Schwarzgelben’s clash with Hoffenheim this past Saturday was no different, with the clubs trading blows right from the first whistle.

Borussia Dortmund drew first blood, courtesy of some sumptuous one-touch football. Neat interplay between Jude Bellingham, Raphaël Guerreiro, and Donyell Malen led to an unmissable tap in opportunity for Erling Haaland. The Norwegian international’s goal kept the away side in front until the end of the first half when a very well placed cross from Ihlas Bebou was hit on the volley by Hoffenheim’s record goal scorer Andrej Kramarić, sending the ball past Gregor Kobel and into the bottom right hand corner.

Kramarić’s goal was one that anyone could have seen coming. Dortmund’s defending, as per usual, had left Hoffenheim with many an opportunity to draw level. A combination of some unlucky hits against the post and some stellar saves from Gregor Kobel were the only factors that delayed the inevitable.

Dortmund went on to re-claim the lead in the 57th minute courtesy of a deft through ball from Donyell Malen to captain Marco Reus against the run of play. They then further doubled their lead in the 65th minute courtesy of an own goal but the Black and Yellows saw their lead cut once again just 10 minutes later thanks to Georginio Rutter. This set up what was a very nervy finish for Dortmund, with Hoffenheim piling on the pressure and even coming close to leveling the game. Marco Rose’s visage in the final minutes expressed what most of a Dortmund inclination were feeling as they watched the final quarter transpire; a look of concern and disbelief as to what we were all witnessing.

In truth, this game had all the foreshadowing of the infamous 3-3 draw from back in 2019 which saw Hoffenheim come back from 3-1 down. It would have been a very classic result when it comes to games against Hoffenheim, who have fashioned themselves as a bit of a bogey team for Die Schwarzgelben for some time now. Luckily, Dortmund managed to hold on in the end and complete the double over Sebastian Hoeneß’s side. Despite managing to get the win, the result in itself was a roller coaster of events that provided quite a few takeaways of varying nature that can be gleaned from Dortmund’s performance as a whole.