Borussia Dortmund beat Elversberg 2-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday as Felix Nmecha's double earned all three points at the Signal Iduna Park.
Without Serhou Guirassy leading the charge for the first time this season, Nmecha took the initiative upon himself and broke the deadlock in the 55th minute.
Another 16 minutes later, the German international doubled their advantage with a fearsome shot from outside the box as Dortmund looked home and hosed.
Noel Futkeu pulled one back for the promoted side in the 81st minute to spice up things in the closing stages but the BVB saw out the last few minutes to clinch all three points.
Despite their unbeaten run continuing and Dortmund heading into the break level on points with leaders Bayern Munich, fans were discontent with Kovac.
The manager opted to see off the game after just 1-0 with defensive substitutions which apparently irked the fans, who lambasted the coach for a rather feeble approach.
They took to X to make their frustrations known. Here are some of the best reactions:
One X user called BVB1909 minced no words on Kovac's desperate changes after being only 1-0 up in the match:
"Kovac, please never whine in press conferences again about us not putting games to bed earlier when you shit your pants & switch to a defensive setup EVERY time we take the lead. Your substitutions send a signal to the players on the pitch that we should just defend from now on. That's no way to ever kill off games."
Kovac, bitte jammer nie wieder in PKs rum, dass wir keine Spiele früher entscheiden, wenn du bei JEDER Führung dir in die Hosen scheisst & defensiv wechselst. Deine Wechsel sind ein Zeichen an die Spieler auf dem Platz, dass wir jetzt nur noch verteidigen. So killst du nie Spiele
— BVB1909 (@BVB_infos_1909) November 7, 2026
Another one though, hailed Elversberg, who are playing in the Bundesliga for the first time in history, for a 'brave' display against Dortmund:
"Important. Respect to Elversberg. Cool and, above all, brave football."
Wichtig. Respekt an Elversberg. Geiler und vor allem mutiger Fußball.
— Chameleon-Eyesz (@CEyesz) November 7, 2026
One BVB supporter named Marco made a similar obeservation:
"Switching to a back five against a newly promoted side to protect a 1-0 lead and stopping playing football was once again a very interesting approach from Kovac. What the players then get up to on top of that is just outrageous. Luckily, it worked out."
Gegen einen Aufsteiger auf 5er Kette umzustellen um das 1:0 zu sichern und das Fußballspielen einstellen ist mal wieder ein sehr interessanter Ansatz von Kovac gewesen. Was die Spieler dann da treiben, ist halt noch dazu ne Frechheit. Zum Glück gings gut.
— Marco (@Marco3595045899) November 7, 2026
Another fan tweeted about how 'painful' it is to watch such moments:
"Kovac makes defensive substitutions when leading 1-0 against a newly promoted side. Sorry, but this is so bad and so clueless!!! This has nothing to do with knowing what you're doing anymore! It's so painful to watch these games."
Kovac wechselt bei einer 1:0 Führung vs einen Aufsteiger defensiv. Sorry, aber das ist so schlecht und Planlos!!! Das hat nichts mehr mit Ahnung zu tun! Es ist so schlimm diese Spiele anzuschauen.
— Manu Höhe (@ManuHohe) November 7, 2026
With his double on the night, this fan felt Nmecha was the only standout player:
"You can thank Felix, everything else was absolutely abysmal.
Just embarrassing at this point."
Kann man sich bei Felix bedanken, alles andere war absolut unterirdisch.
— Marcel ⚡️ (@anxiouus_FT) November 7, 2026
Einfach nur noch peinlich.
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