Late goals spare Borussia Dortmund’s blushes in Erfurt friendly
By Tushar Bahl
Late goals from Thorgan Hazard and Marius Wolf helped Borussia Dortmund come from behind and earn a narrow 2-1 win in their pre-season friendly against RW Erfurt.
Borussia Dortmund were given another tough pre-season test on Saturday, this time by fourth division side Rot-Weiß Erfurt. But the Black and Yellows managed to come out on top in the end, earning a 2-1 win.
The biggest positive for Borussia Dortmund will be the fact that the majority of the first-team players were able to get minutes under their belt, even if the overall performance of the team left a lot to be desired.
Ramy Bensebaini, Julian Brandt, Sebastien Haller, and Donyell Malen all played from the start, while the likes of Felix Nmecha, Youssoufa Moukoko and Emre Can came off the bench. Niklas Süle (ill), Karim Adeyemi (rehab), Mateu Morey and Soumaïla Coulibaly (muscle problems) joined the injured Gio Reyna and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens on the sidelines.
Borussia Dortmund were left frustrated for much of the first half, as Erfurt defended with great resilience. The home side then took the shock lead in the 23rd minute with Caniggia Elva scoring after some excellent link-up play on the counter-attack.
Last season’s Bundesliga runners-up looked sluggish for most of the game, and struggled to create much in terms of chances. But they managed to get back on level terms out of nowhere in the 81st minute, with Youssoufa Moukoko setting up Thorgan Hazard on the counter-attack for the equaliser.
The winning goal arrived five minutes later, with Hazard turning from scorer to provider for Marius Wolf. The right-back made a fine run into the box and found the back of the net to give BVB the lead.
Some excellent pressing from Erfurt nearly allowed them to equalise in the final minute of the game. But Alexander Meyer made the save and BVB managed to hang on for the win.
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Next up for Borussia Dortmund is a trip to the United States, where they will play three friendly matches and ramp up their preparations for the new season.