Ten-man BVB receive applause, but come away empty-handed in 3-2 defeat

Matchday 14 of the Bundesliga season saw Borussia Dortmund fall to a narrow 3-2 (1-1) defeat to fellow European competitors Leipzig. The Black & Yellows played 75 minutes with ten men. Niklas Süle netted an equaliser after Leipzig opened the scoring, while Niclas Füllkrug scored a late goal to bring the score to 3-2.

Boris Rupert reporting

Playing in front of a sold-out crowd of 81,365 at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, BVB were a man down from the 15th minute onwards, as Hummels was shown a straight red card. Things got worse when Bensebaini scored an own goal (32). Leipzig sat back after this goal, and Süle equalised in first-half stoppage time to level the score at 1-1 Baumgartner put the visitors back in front nine minutes after the restart before Poulsen made it 3-1 in stoppage time, but BVB continued to fight and Füllkrug restored hope (90+3). Süle and Reyna both came close to equalising late on, but it wasn't to be. Despite the result, there was plenty of applause from the stands.

The scenario:
Fourth against fifth. Only Bayer and Bayern had lost fewer games than BVB (two), although the Black & Yellows had only won one of their previous five matches in the league (against Gladbach). Leipzig have historically suffered more away defeats in Dortmund (four in seven games) than any other Bundesliga venue.

Personnel matters:
Haller (knee problem), Moukoko (fibre tear in thigh), Nmecha (hip injury), Ryerson (strained inner knee ligament), Sabitzer (calf blister), Wolf (strained ankle ligament) and Duranville (recovery training) were all unavailable; Süle and Reyna, who had been ill recently, were back in the squad. Meunier, Bensebaini, Reus, Brandt and Füllkrug came into the starting line-up for Wolf, Ryerson, Sabitzer, Moukoko (all injured) and Adeyemi, who moved to the bench. The matchday squad included U23 players Papadopoulos and Blank as well as U17 World Cup winner Brunner (pictured below).

Tactics:
Black & Yellows reverted to a 4-2-3-1 formation, again with Brandt playing as the number 10, Reus on the right and Bynoe-Gittens on the left. The Saxons extended their back three to a back four when Dortmund were in possession, with Henrichs on the right. Leipzig opted to bide their time until the sending-off, allowing BVB to build up to the halfway line unhindered before closing down the passing channels.

The match & analysis:
BVB set the tone for 12 minutes in the pouring rain, but failed to make the breakthrough. In the twelfth minute, the fans witnessed a promising attack, but one which ended in disaster. Özcan found himself with room in the half-left space and drove forward. Bynoe-Gittens moved inside, positioned himself between two defenders, Özcan then played the pass, but a Leipzig player intervened and initiated the counter-attack. A long ball was played up to Openda, who found himself through one-on-one with Kobel. Hummels was hot on his heels and opted to go in for the sliding tackle just outside the area. Unfortunately for BVB, he didn't get any of the ball.

Referee Jablonski pulled out a yellow card and pointed to the penalty spot. Then a VAR check was carried out, first to see if Openda had been standing in an offside position, then to determine if the foul was outside or inside the box. The decision: out of the box, free-kick instead of penalty kick, but red instead of yellow for Hummels.

Simons fired the free kick from 16 metres out into the wall (16), but Leipzig pushed hard for an opener in the subsequent passage of play. Kobel had to be at full stretch to deny Simons in the 19th minute. The BVB keeper was again required to keep out a shot from Haidara (21), then Henrichs fizzed an effort just over the bar (25). With no small slice of luck, BVB were able to survive this phase, and soon Terzic opted for a switch to try and restore order: Süle came on to fill out the back four, with Bynoe-Gittens leaving the field of play.

Just when it seemed like BVB had weathered the storm, Leipzig managed to find the opening goal. Frustratingly it came through a set-piece (a Raum corner), and unfortunately it was an own-goal, as Bensebaini unwittingly headed the ball into his own net in the 32nd minute. Having taken the lead, the visitors were content to sit back, although they came close to doubling their advantage through Openda, whose shot was well saved by Kobel before the offside flag went up late (43).

BVB roared back to life in stoppage time, first with a few chances, then with the equaliser! Firstly, Meunier played a one-two with Füllkrug and took a shot from half-right in the penalty area, but Blaswich parried for a corner (45+5). This was cleared, but the Black & Yellows kept the visitors under pressure. Before long, Özcan forced the Leipzig keeper into another save, as his headed effort was tipped over the bar. The resultant corner was initially cleared, but BVB recycled possession. Can played the ball out from the centre to Brandt on the left, whose cross dropped onto the foot of Süle at the far post to make it 1-1.

Borussia also started the second half full of passion, keeping their opponents at bay for the most part. But then, in the 54th minute, they fell victim to a counter-attack. The ball was conceded to Baumgartner in the centre circle, who played in Simons. The Leipzig man was initially forced wide by the BVB defence, but he managed to turn inside and get off a shot on goal. Kobel made a strong save, but Baumgartner was well placed to mop up the follow-up and make it 2-1. In the 73rd minute, Baumgartner had a chance to put the game beyond doubt, but he was denied twice by Kobel and then hit the woodwork.

Terzic brought off both full-backs in the closing stages and brought on two attacking players in Malen and Reyna. With a back three and high pressing, BVB dominated again, despite being outnumbered. But Leipzig scored through Poulsen after a three-on-two counter-attack to make it 3-1 (90+1). But it wasn't over yet. Malen and Süle fired just wide, before Füllkrug headed a Brandt corner into the net (90+3) to make it 3-2. Reyna had space to shoot in the 95th minute, but Blaswich made a fine save to keep out his curling effort and prevent BVB snatching an improbable 3-3 draw.

Outlook:
We'll be back at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK on Wednesday, when BVB face Paris Saint-Germain to battle it out for top spot in the UEFA Champions League group (21:00 CET). There are then two more Bundesliga games before Christmas: next Saturday in Augsburg and the following Tuesday at home against Mainz.

Teams & goals

Bundesliga, Matchday 14
BORUSSIA DORTMUND 2-3 (1-1) RASENBALLSPORT LEIPZIG

Bor. Dortmund: Kobel - Meunier (82, Reyna), Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini (82, Malen) - Can, Özcan - Reus (71, Adeyemi), Brandt, Bynoe-Gittens (19, Süle) - Füllkrug
Leipzig: Blaswich - Simakan, Klostermann, Lukeba - Henrichs, Haidara (81, Kampl), Schlager, Raum - Baumgartner (75, Forsberg), Xavi Simons (75, Sesko) - Openda (75, Poulsen)
Substitutes: Meyer, Morey, Brunner, Blank, Papadopoulos - Gulacsi, Bitshiabu, Lenz, Carvalho, Seiwald
Goals: 0-1 Bensebaini (32, own-goal, Raum corner), 1-1 Süle (45+6, Brandt), 1-2 Baumgartner (54, Simons), 1-3 Poulsen (90+1, Forsberg), 2-3 Füllkrug (90+3, Brandt corner)
Corners: 6-6 (2-6 at half-time), Chance ratio: 6-10 (3-6)
Referee: Jablonski (Bremen), Red card: Hummels (15, last-man tackle), Yellow cards: Özcan - Simakan, Simons, Openda
Attendance: 81,365 (sold-out), Weather: rainy, seven degrees