Wasteful Borussia Dortmund held to 1-1 draw by FC Copenhagen
By Tushar Bahl
A number of missed chances came back to haunt Borussia Dortmund as they were held to a 1-1 draw by FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
Borussia Dortmund ended their UEFA Champions League group stage campaign with a 1-1 draw away to Danish side FC Copenhagen. The Black and Yellows took the lead in the first half through Thorgan Hazard, before Hákon Haraldsson’s equaliser helped the home side earn a share of the spoils.
With qualification to the round of 16 already secured, Edin Terzic made a number of changes to his starting XI. The likes of Jude Bellingham, Youssoufa Moukoko, Niklas Süle and Julian Brandt were all given some much needed rest. Anthony Modeste and Gio Reyna came into the team, while Felix Passlack made his first start of the season.
The Black and Yellows were under the cosh for much of the first half, and Gregor Kobel was forced into making two excellent saves to prevent the home side from scoring.
Borussia Dortmund did not have too many chances to score in the first half. But the two full-backs combined to help them take the lead in the 23rd minute. Thorgan Hazard made a fine run into the box and found the back of the net with a neat finish after getting on the end of Felix Passlack’s cross.
But FC Copenhagen finally got their well deserved equaliser on the stroke of half time, with Hákon Haraldsson taking advantage of some lacklustre defending before finding the bottom corner.
Borussia Dortmund started to gain control of the game after the break, and Donyell Malen missed a great opportunity to restore their lead.
Youssoufa Moukoko then came off the bench and livened up the BVB attack. He hit the post with his first touch before setting up Anthony Modeste with a good chance. Karim Adeyemi also came close to scoring, but Hazard’s goal ended up being Dortmund’s only shot on target over the 90 minutes.
The best moment of the second half came in the 73rd minute, when Soumaïla Coulibaly came on to make his Borussia Dortmund first-team debut.
The 19 year old defender, who joined BVB from Paris St. Germain in 2021, has been forced to deal with a number of injury problems over the last 18 months. And getting the opportunity to make his debut in the UEFA Champions League will no doubt give him a lot of confidence.
dark. Next. Player ratings from Borussia Dortmund's 1-1 draw vs FC Copenhagen
The game ended 1-1, and Borussia Dortmund will be satisfied with the result as they were able to avoid any injuries and Edin Terzic also got to rest a number of his key players. Next up for BVB is a Ruhr derby clash against VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga on Saturday.