FC Köln 3-2 Borussia Dortmund: Key Takeaways

Borussia Dortmund fell to FC Köln at the RheinEnergieStadion this past Saturday in an abysmal 3-2 loss.

Matchweek 8 was a sour one for Borussia Dortmund as a club and fans alike as the club travelled to the RheinEnergieStadion to face FC Köln. Dortmund came into this game with a plethora of injuries, with many of the team’s most important players including captain Marco Reus, keeper Gregor Kobel and defender Mats Hummels all sidelined for a variety of reasons.

There was ample pressure on Dortmund to perform in this game, particularly because Bayern Munich had won their game against Bayer Leverkusen in emphatic fashion. It was a result that had seen the Bavarian giants jump Die Schwarzgelben in the table, and only a victory would restore Dortmund’s lead over Bayern.

This was unfortunately not meant to be and despite Dortmund taking the lead in the first half courtesy of Julian Brandt,  FC Köln would mount a comeback that would see them 3-1 up going into the closing stages of the game. A deflected Tom Rothe cross would end up in the back of Köln’s net late on to give Dortmund some hope of salvaging a point, but the black and yellows failed to make the most of this opportunity and have once again dropped points in a fixture that in reality was an absolute must win to  keep pressure on Bayern, especially with Der Klassiker just around the corner. Lets take a look at some of the key takeaways that defined much of Dortmund’s game and continue to define their performances week in, week out this season.