Borussia Dortmund sneaks into the World Cup break with plenty of frustration. After the defeat at VfL Wolfsburg, Edin Terzic’s team also loses the duel with the other Borussia. The Gladbacher mercilessly exploit the weaknesses of the defense – and leave many opportunities unused.
Negligent in the front, disastrous in the back: Borussia Dortmund is badly injured in the World Cup break. Coach Edin Terzic’s fickle team lost a turbulent encounter at Borussia Mönchengladbach 2:4 (2:3) and will spend the winter outside of the Champions League places. The gap to leaders Bayern Munich can increase to nine points on Saturday.
Jonas Hofmann (4th), Ramy Bensebaini (26th), Marcus Thuram (30th) and Kouadio Kone (46th) punished the large gaps and negligence in and in front of the BVB defense. The internationals Julian Brandt (19th) and Nico Schlotterbeck (40th) meanwhile only used two of Dortmund’s numerous chances. After 15 matchdays, Gladbach only have three points fewer than the runners-up.
Terzic made two changes to his team compared to the defeat at VfL Wolfsburg (0:2): Giovanni Reyna and Emre Can replaced Karim Adeyemi and Salih Özcan. As with the defeat at VfL Bochum (1: 2), Jan Olschowsky (20) was again in goal for the hosts, as regular keeper Yann Sommer and substitute Tobias Sippel were still injured.
In front of 54,042 spectators in the sold-out Borussia Park, the fast-paced encounter needed no warm-up time. BVB youngster Youssoufa Moukoko fired the first warning shot one day after his World Cup nomination (3rd), then Gladbach already struck. Captain Lars Stindl used his space in front of the Dortmund defense to make a powerful pass to Hofmann, who shot the ball free in front of goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
Both teams had chances almost every minute, also because the defense was criminally neglected on both sides. Brandt scored technically well to equalize after a remarkable pass from Jude Bellingham. But the goal gave BVB no security. Bensebaini headed in a Hofmann free-kick, then Thuram Schlotterbeck ran away and also missed Kobel.
But Gladbach also revealed major weaknesses in defense and made life difficult for themselves with a few careless turnovers. In this phase, Olschowsky surpassed himself and parried powerfully against Moukoko (33rd) and Donyell Malen (43rd). Before the goal, Olschowsky was also there when Niklas Süle headed the ball, Schlotterbeck used the rebound.
The second half started as furiously as the first had ended. Kone tunneled Mats Hummels into his 400th Bundesliga game after 41 seconds. Whipped forward by the fans, the hosts sought the decision. Thuram once again escaped Schlotterbeck and Hummels, the Frenchman released the ball in front of Kobel but missed the goal (52′).
Terzic risked everything after just under an hour and brought in Anthony Modeste for Schlotterbeck. BVB ran, Gladbach was waiting for the decisive counterattack. Referee Sven Jablonski did not recognize Hofmann’s supposed fifth goal after studying the TV pictures, Thuram is said to have fouled Hummels beforehand (69th).
