Borussia Dortmund 2-3 RB Leipzig: Takeaways after another home defeat

Taking off Jamie Bynoe-Gittens after the red card was the wrong decision

The turning point of the game for very obvious reasons came prematurely in the 15th minute when Mats Hummels was sent off for a foul on Löis Openda who was through on goal. The other arguable changing point was the decisive substitution to bring Jamie Bynoe-Gittens off as the sacrificial lamb with 10 men.

There was every rationale behind bringing on Niklas Süle - who ironically was Borussia Dortmund’s biggest attacking threat on the night, and managed to score the equaliser before nearly finding the net again late on. The switch meant that Edin Terzic's side fell to a 4-4-1 formation. Moving Julian Brandt to the left side meant that there was no theoretical penetration and directness in the side.

Surely moving to a 4-2-2-1 with either Niclas Füllkrug or Brandt/Reus coming off and Bynoe-Gittens serving as an inside forward would have helped the production line more.

The Englishman has been in exemplary form for Borussia Dortmund of late, with sublime displays against Gladbach and AC Milan. He has provided the team with a breath of fresh unpredictability and explosiveness that currently the likes of Karim Adeyemi and Donyell Malen are not producing.

Leipzig’s right side was not very prolific during the game, which would have provided Bynoe-Gittens with the correct set of ingredients to play a part in an unlikely Borussia Dortmund triumph. In a game of fine margins between victory and bitter defeat, perhaps keeping Bynoe-Gittens on would have provided BVB with the spark that would have taken them to a victory. Nevertheless, it felt like a head scratching moment to see the 19 year old resigned to the bench.