Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel has expressed disappointment at their latest defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga.
Haris Tabakovic struck the only goal of the game in the 88th minute to sink the BVB, who lost for the third time from their last four games.
Dortmund, coming into the fixture on the back of a stunning 4-0 victory over Freiburg, looked like a pale shadow of their menacing selves from a week ago.
By contrast, Gladbach, who were winless in their last five, were full of energy and pomp, driving forward with purpose and creating the better chances.
They were finally rewarded for their persistence with only two minutes of normal time remaining when Tabakovic broke the offside trap to race clear of the Dortmund's high-line and slot it home.
The goal was initially ruled out for offside but given following a VAR review as the Foals celebrated their Bundesliga survival.
Kobel, who made some vital saves in the game that had kept his team in the match, later spoke of a frustrating evening for Die Schwarzgelben.
"“I’m not happy with how the match went. Gladbach played well right from the start. They kept creating chances. And in the end, they were rewarded for their efforts. When we have a day like this, where things aren’t going our way, where we’ve had a bit of luck with Gladbach’s finishing, then we have to settle for a 0-0 draw – and that’s that.""said the Swiss international
The match started off rather cagey with both teams going head-to-head in what was turning out to be a tense game, although things seemed to open up after 25 minutes when Nico Elvedi had the ball in the back of the net.
It was ruled out for offside as Dortmund heaved a sigh of relief and could consider themselves fortuitous to go into the break level at 0-0 as they had otherwise been on the back foot for the last couple of minutes until then.
They returned from the break stronger, dominating possession and finally managing to pose some threat at Gladbach goal but it was not as majestic as it was in the Freiburg drubbing as the hosts still appeared better placed to break the deadlock.
And break the deadlock they did, when Rocco Reitz found some gap in Dortmund's defense and released Tabakovic with an excellent throughball to make the finish and hand their side a narrow win.
Kobel lamented his side's inability to get the job done on the night.
""We’ve done that more than enough this season. It’s a shame, it’s frustrating that we didn’t manage to get the job done. Every single player knows he has a certain obligation to the badge and the club. Everyone has signed a contract for 34 games. So we need to go out and win the last two as well.”"added the Dortmund goalkeeper
Dortmund remained in second place of the Bundesliga table with 67 points.
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