Borussia Dortmund star Waldemar Anton admitted his side made defensive mistakes which led to a 2-2 draw against Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Friday.
The BVB let slip a 2-0 lead after 88 minutes to draw 2-2 with Ludovit Reis and Niclas Fullkrug scoring for the River Islanders in a shock collapse from Niko Kovac's side.
Despite keeping a lion's share of possession and enjoying great territory, it took Dortmund until the 80th minute to break the deadlock when Daniel Svensson slammed home a lovely team break.
Another five minutes later, Nico Schlotterbeck made it 2-0 for the Prussians by rising the highest to meet with a corner from Joey Veerman as Dortmund looked home and hosed.
But what followed next truly stunned the Westfalonstadion crowd as Bremen struck twice in a space of four minutes to wipe out BVB's advantage.
A pass from Schlotterbeck was intercepted and Reis came into possession. The Dutchman then sprinted forward before attempting a shot from outside the box for 2-1.
In the second minute of added time, Bremen had a free-kick from a good range and Fullkrug caught Dortmund napping by racing clear and heading it beyond Gregor Kobel for the equalizer.
Anton, who played the full game, painfully lamented that Dortmund couldn't see the game off after going two-nil up. Speaking to the press after the match, he said:
"After going up two-zero, we went away from our game plan. And to be honest, we didn’t defend well anymore. We were committing fouls because we got there too late. That's beyond frustrating. "
Dortmund were punished for their defensive sloppyness, giving the ball away rather cheaply and allowing Bremen get deep inside their half in the dying embers of the match.
From nearly bagging their fifth consecutive win to imploding and settling for a draw, Anton felt the result was unexpected but vows to resolve it.
"The draw was unnecessary because we really had the game under control. In the end, we only came away with one point. Now, it's about working hard to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Luckily for Dortmund, arch-rivals Bayern Munich also dropped points the following day with a 2-2 draw away to Augsburg as the reigning champions now trail the BVB by two points. But the latter dropped to second place on the Bundesliga table now with Freiburg leapfrogging them on goal-difference.
Borussia Dortmund play away to Bodo/Glimt in the UEFA Champions League tomorrow.
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