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| | | | | | | | | | Borussia Dortmund - Manchester City 1:0 (0:0) | |
| | Season 2012/2013, Matchday 6, 04.12.2012 20:45 |
| | |  | Matchreport |
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| | | | | | 1-0: Schieber and Weidenfeller secure victory | | | | [4.12.] Borussia Dortmund round off the group stages of the Champions League with a win! The German champions defeated Manchester City thanks to a Julian Schieber goal to maintain their top spot in Group D. As the champions of England thus said farewell to European competition, BVB had a lot to thank Roman Weidenfeller for after another fabulous performance. | | | Boris Rupert is your reporter
65,829 in a sold-out Signal Iduna Park were witness to a thoroughly committed display from a BVB eleven showing several changes. In the second half, the home side turned the screw and, on 57 minutes, they deservedly took the lead as Schieber registered his first goal for the club. Weidenfeller ensured that that goal would win the game for the home side.
The Scenario:
Borussia Dortmund went into the game already assured of top place in the Group. City arrived needing to win to qualify for the Europa League and even then, needed Real Madrid not to go down to Ajax in Madrid.
 | | Schmelzer watches Leitner and Dzeko duel for the ball. |
Personnel Matters:
Jürgen Klopp made six changes to the team that started the 1-1 draw in Munich at the weekend. Subotic, Bender and Götze as well as Kehl, and Owomoyela were not available for selection with the likes of Kuba and Piszczek (sick and injured) only fit for the bench. On that bench they were joined by Lewandowski but also youngsters Amini, Günter and Bittencourt. The visitors arrived without Silva and Clichy whilst Touré was suspended for this game.
Tactics:
Just as they had done in Manchester, and at the weekend in Munich, BVB adopted a 4-3-3 system with Gündogan operating as a sole defensive midfielder. Großkreutz (right) and Leitner flanked him with Reus and Perisic supporting Schieber up front. City chose a 4-2-3-1 formation with Dzeko at the front and Tevez just behind. When BVB had the ball the likes of Sinclair and Nasri tucked in to help Barry and Garcia whilst Tevez hunted amidst the BVB defence.
 | | Ilkay Gündogan drives beyond Carlos Tévez. |
The Game and Analysis:
The opening exchanges were cautious and it was only after 12 minutes that a shot from Kirch threatened to upset the stalemate. Despite the fact that for City it was all about winning to maintain an interest in Europe, and even though an early Real goal against Ajax heightened their possibilities, City seemed happy to simply enjoy possession rather than threaten.
After 36 minutes of tame play Reus finally brought the South stand to its feet with a determined run culminating in a shot just wide. The South stand had earlier been transformed into a living ´BVB´ symbol and until that moment that had been the abiding memory of the evening. Just two minutes later, though, the best fans in the world had almost to choke on their chants when a Maicon cross was met by Tevez only to see Weidenfeller thwart his header with a world-class save.
And so, at half-time it was still 0-0 despite BVB having had the better of things (8-2 in shots on goal) with the final ball all too often being the problem. Maybe not surprising given that the team was so different from recent games...
 | | Ivan Perisic flicks it beyond Maicon. |
Kuba, despite suffering with a bit of ´flu, came on at half-time for Reus. Given that they didn´t really have to go for a win, and had so many injury issues, it was BVB that sought the win. Soon Hummels only just failed to connect with a fine Schmelzer cross (49 mins)l then Großkreutz, having beaten two, saw Hart do well to snaffle his fulminating left foot shot. Between these scenes, the England No.1 had denied a Perisic volley with a fine save.
It felt as if there was a goal in the offing and, at last, with Borussia on the front foot, the goal eventually came. Kirch drilled a pass along the wing for Kuba who looked up and hit a devastating cross in behind the flat back four to Schieber who slid in at the far post to register his first goal for the club. Goven that at that point BVB had had eleven attempts compared to the three of the visitors, it was more than deserved. Just minutes later, played in behind the City defence by Leitner, Schieber had a chance to notch a second but opted, mistakenly, for a lob which was easily claimed by Hart in the City goal.
At last City came to the offensive party only for Weidenfeller to save outstandingly to deny Tevez a fine finish to a long dribble on 67 minutes. With just four minutes to go, Aguerro, too, had to take his hat off to the BVB ´keeper. But, to be honest, BVB were very well organised and such chances were few and far between and Leitner even had the chance to grab a second following fine work by Kuba and Großkreutz. Lewandowski, too, almost scored but went a little wide when an earlier shot may have been the better option. It remained 1-0 and that was the right result.
Teams & Goals
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, Matchday 6
BORUSSIA DORTMUND - MANCHESTER CITY 1-0 (0-0)
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller - Kirch, Santana, Hummels, Schmelzer - Großkreutz, Gündogan, Leitner - Reus, Schieber, Perisic
Manchester City: Hart - Maicon, Kompany, Nastasic, Lescott - Javi Garcia, Barry - Nasri, Tévez, Sinclair - Dzeko
Substitutions: 46. Blaszczykowski for Reus, 77. Lewandowski for Schieber, 88. Bittencourt for Kirch - 57. Agüero for Sinclair, 64. Balotelli for Dzeko, 68. Zabaleta for Nasri
Goal: 1-0 Schieber (57., Blaszczykowski)
Corners: 3-7 (HT 1-5), Chances: 8-5 (1-2)
Referee: Mažic (Serbia), Yellow cards: - Garcia, Balotelli
Attendance: 65.829 (sold out), Weather: rainy, 4 degrees
Prospects:
The pairings for the round of the last 16 will be drawn on December 20. On Saturday BVB will host VfL Wolfsburg in what almost certainly will be a sold out Signal Iduna Park.
 | | Impressive choreography in the South Stand at the start of the game. |
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