Borussia Dortmund have missed out on their first away win in three months. On Saturday, the Black and Yellows were held to a 2-2 (2-0) draw at promoted SC Paderborn after letting a 2-0 lead slip away. They were also unlucky as they had a perfectly legitimate goal by Grosskreutz disallowed (80 mins), and, to make matters worse, lost Marco Reus through injury following a foul by Bakalorz (67 mins.).

BVB looked to be cruising to victory thanks to goals from Aubameyang (12‘) and Reus (45+1‘) in front of a 15,000 sell-out crowd at Benteler Arena, but for some inexplicable reason took their foot off the gas after the break allowing Paderborn a way back into the game, with Rupp (60’) and Saglik (81’) finding the net to salvage a point for the home side.

Felix Ulrich reports

The Scenario:

Six places and five points separated both clubs as they went into the 13th game of the season, with BVB, when looking at the table, even being the underdogs. Klopp said before the match, “Paderborn are a good example that you can achieve something in football with little money, a good idea and the right people making the right decisions.” For Borussia, however, to continue their upward trend in the Bundesliga following their 1-0 win over Mönchengladbach, only winning mattered. But caution was the order of the day with Paderborn, whose squad included six former Borussen in Hünemeier, Bakalorz, Kruse, Vrancic, Saglik und Ducksch, having scored four of their 16 goals from distance this season, including Moritz Stoppelkamp’s 83-metre strike.

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Ginter started his fourth game for BVB this season.

Personnel Matters:

Borussia were without Bender (hip), Hummels (foot), Sokratis (broken fibula, suspension), Kirch, Sahin, Blaszczykowski (all match fitness) and Ji (knee). They made two changes to the side that defeated Mönchengladbach 1-0, with Ginter coming in to play alongside Subotic in central defence and Gündogan playing alongside Kehl in defensive midfield.

Paderborn coach André Breitenreiter made five changes following the 3-0 defeat to Augsburg two weeks ago. Rafa made his Bundesliga debut, replacing the injured Wemmer (thigh) on the right of the back four. SC skipper Hünemeier returned from injury to replace Ziegler in central defence, Hartherz played for Bruckner while Rupp and Quali took the places of Meha and Kachunga.

Tactics:

When in attack, Borussia lined up in their usual 4-2-3-1, which switched to a 4-4-2 in defence, with Kagawa joining Aubameyang up front. BVB overall defended high up the pitch as Gündogan often breaking forward from his holding position. Paderborn adopted a cautious approach, setting up in a compact 4-5-1 formation, with Rupp operating in a deep lying role in front of the back four. When in possession, the hosts moved the ball forward quickly making heavy use of the wings. When Borussia won possession, Paderborn dropped back deep into their own, flooding the centre of the field which allowed BVB to find acres of space on the wings.

The Game & Analysis:

BVB were sharp and showed determination from the start, and nearly opened the scoring after only two minutes when Reus was denied by Kruse after good work from Mikhitaryan. The Paderborn keeper, however, was beaten a few minutes later when Durm was played down the left wing by Kehl before crossing the ball to the totally unmarked Aubameyang in the centre to put Borussia in front. It was already the 10th goal for the Gabon international this season.

With the early goal playing into their hands, the Black and Yellows continued to dominate proceedings in the first half in which they enjoyed more possession (65 percent), more shots on goal (6-2) as well as a superior tackle success rate (59 percent) and passing accuracy (80 percent), while Aubameyang also had two chances to double his tally. His first effort, after being set up by Reus, went wide of the far post (25’), the second from an acute angle found the side netting (39’).

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Aubameyang scored his fourth goal in the Bundesliga and his 10th overall this season against Paderborn.

SC Paderborn played with a lot of passion, but seemed to lack quality when they had to switch from attack to defence and vice versa. Yet they still almost managed an equaliser on 19 minutes through Koc, but Weidenfeller was on hand to block the shot with his right thigh. It was Paderborn’s only chance in the first half, and the next goal came at the other end when, after Kehl had won the ball, Aubameyang slid a defence-splitting pass into the run of Reus who kept his cool and slotted the ball through the legs of Kruse to make it 2-0 (45’).

The second half, however, took a different pattern to the first as BVB let their dominance slip. Even if they had chances to add a third through Reus (47’) or Aubameyang (56’), the Black and Yellows for some reason took their foot off the pedal, and were quickly punished for it. In the 60th minute, they were caught out from their own corner, with a series of individual errors leading to the home side’s first goal through Rupp.

The Bundesliga new boys now scented blood while the Black and Yellows totally lost their shape, and, even worse, Marco Reus who had to be stretchered off with an ankle injury after a nasty foul by Bakalorz, with Jojic replacing the 25-year-old midfielder. Bakalorz, by the way, strangely only got the yellow card for this foul by referee Wolfgang Stark who last officiated a  BVB game two years ago.

The referee also took centre stage 13 minutes later when he disallowed a perfectly good goal by Grosskreutz for offside. Making matters worse, Paderborn scored at the end a minute later through Saglik following a corner to make it 2-2 (80’).

TEAMS & GOALS

Bundesliga, Matchday 12
SC PADERBORN – BORUSSIA DORTMUND 2-2 (0-2)

SC Paderborn: Kruse - Lopez Gomez, Strohdiek, Hünemeier, Hartherz - Rupp - Ouali, Bakalorz, Vrancic, Stoppelkamp - Koc
Bor. Dortmund: Weidenfeller – Piszczek, Subotic, Ginter, Durm - Gündogan, Kehl - Mkhitaryan, Kagawa, Reus – Aubameyang
Substitutions: 35. Heinloth for Hünemeier, 46. Kachunga for Ouali, 81. Saglik for Hartherz - 58. Großkreutz for Kagawa, 67. Jojic for Reus, 87. Ramos for  Mkhitaryan
Goals: 0-1 Aubameyang (12., Durm), 0-2 Reus (45.+1, Aubameyang), 1-2 Rupp (60., Bakalorz), 2-2 Saglik (81., Ecke Koc)
Corners: 1-6 (HT 0-3), Chances: 3-8 (1-5)
Referee: Stark (Ergolding), Yellow cards: Bakalorz, Hartherz, Saglik - Aubameyang
Attendance: 15,000 (sold-out), Weather: sunny, 8 degrees

Prospects:

Borussia Dortmund have played 43 competitive matches in 2014 so far, with another seven coming up until the end of the year. On Wednesday, BVB travel to Arsenal in the Champions League (kick-off: 2045 CET), with a draw enough to secure top place in the group. The Black and Yellows will then face a trip to Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday, 30 November (1730 CET) , with the Allianz Arena already a sell-out.