Hertha Berlin 0-1 Borussia Dortmund: Key talking points

Anthony Modeste scores his first goal for Borussia Dortmund

Anthony Modeste has had a tough start to life at Borussia Dortmund since making the move from 1. FC Köln. Despite not being with the club for very long, his performances have come under scrutiny. The 34 year old Frenchman isn’t the most mobile players and he doesn’t fit the mold of the dynamic striker BVB usually field.

That being said, Modeste’s relative isolation when on the field comes down to just that – he doesn’t fit the mold of the type of striker BVB as a team are used to. Their system has never really relied on a striker whose main strength is their heading prowess. With this being the case, the team has had to work on adapting their game as a whole, which has come with its own set of growing pains.

In the 32nd minute of the game in Berlin, Modeste finally opened his account with Borussia Dortmund with a little help from fellow former Köln teammate Salih Özcan. The midfielder whipped in the type of cross that Modeste thrives on, and a strong header saw the Frenchman beat Christensen and set Dortmund on their way to winning the game.

Özcan himself stated that before the game that the team had talked about making early crosses a greater priority in order to involve Modeste in the game more. In this case, it paid dividends. One can only assume Edin Terzić and his men will continue to work towards making sure Modeste is far more involved going forward, as the player has shown that he can be a dangerous option in the box if the service via crosses is there.