Marco Rose: Borussia Dortmund players deserve praise after hard fought win over Mainz
By Tushar Bahl
Borussia Dortmund managed to claim a 1-0 win over Mainz 05 on Wednesday. And Marco Rose was full of praise of his players for grinding out the win.
Borussia Dortmund clawed their way back into the Bundesliga title race on Wednesday evening by claiming a 1-0 win over Mainz 05. Axel Witsel scored an 87th minute winner as the Black and Yellows managed to get the three points despite not being at their best. And head coach Marco Rose praised his players for digging in and getting the job done against a tricky opponent.
Rose added that it was a remarkable effort from his players to keep two clean sheets in a row despite having to make do without a number of key players, especially in defence.
"“It was a difficult game like we expected. We had to defend with a lot of strength. We managed to do that well and kept another clean sheet.”“I don’t like to talk about it, but I’ll say it anyway. Everyone is talking about the Corona situations at Bielefeld and Mainz. We are also in an English week in a very difficult situation. We’re missing eight very important players.”“I think it’s quite remarkable that we managed a clean sheet for the second time in a row. The guys really dug in, it was really good. I think the players deserve some praise.”"
With Mats Hummels, Manuel Akanji, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Thomas Meunier and Raphael Guerreiro all unavailable, Borussia Dortmund have been forced to field a make-shift back four in each of the last two games. But Emre Can, Marin Pongracic, Felix Passlack and Nico Schulz have done a fairly solid job all things considered to keep two clean sheets in a row.
It remains to be seen if any of Hummels, Akanji or Guerreiro will be able to return to the squad for Sunday’s trip to FC Köln. Hummels did make the trip to Mainz, but wasn’t included in the matchday squad.
Next. Mainz 0-1 Borussia Dortmund: Player Ratings. dark
Borussia Dortmund are now just four points behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga standings and will be looking to keep the pressure on the Bavarians in the coming weeks.