2-2 - BVB twice come from behind to level in Hoffenheim

The 30,150 fans in a sold-out Wirsol Rhein Neckar Arena saw a high-octane and very hard-fought match from the off. Uth fired Hoffenheim into an early lead (3) before Götze equalised for Dortmund with 11 minutes on the clock, only for Wagner to restore TSG's lead nine minutes later. But this time the visitors did not hit back immediately and the next incident of note came when Reus was sent off for a second bookable offence on 41 minutes. After the break ten-man BVB performed well and for lengthy spells their inferiority in numbers was barely noticeable. Aubameyang struck the deserved leveller (48) and the visitors remained in the ascendancy – allowing the hosts little sight of goal except for Wagner's shot that hit the post (48) and Kramaric's late effort (89) – but were unable to find the winning goal themselves.

Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reporting

The scenario:
BVB were facing a run of three away games without a win for the first time under Thomas Tuchel, having recently been held to a 1-1 draw in Cologne and lost 2-1 in Frankfurt, but between those matches came two others – an impressive 4-1 win over Gladbach and a 2-2 draw away to Real Madrid – that had instilled the Black and Yellows with the belief that they could be the first team to inflict defeat upon Hoffenheim this season. "We're a team that attacks, finds solutions, dominates the opposition and wants to score a lot of goals," said Tuchel in a bid to fire up his team beforehand.

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Personnel matters:
The treatment room at BVB was full again following a brief reprieve in November, with nine players sidelined with injury: Bürki (broken hand), Castro (bruised ribs), Durm (back problems), Guerreiro (fitness), Piszczek (adductor problems), Rode (knock), Sahin (knee problems), Sokratis (bruised foot) and Subotic (knee problems). Bender was making his first appearance of the season, having sustained an injury while playing for Germany in the Olympic Games final. In total Thomas Tuchel made four changes to the team that took to the field in Cologne last week, bringing in Bartra, Bender, Pulisic and Götze in place of the injured Piszczek, Sokratis, Castro and Durm. Hoffenheim had a full squad available; Demirbay, whose return wasn't expected until after the winter break, was a surprise inclusion in the starting XI.

Tactics:
BVB took to the field in a 3-4-2-1 formation with Pulisic (right) and Schmelzer (left) occasionally expanding the back three of Ginter, Bender and Bartra into a back four, while Götze lined up alongside Weigl in defensive midfield. Dembélé (centre-right) and Reus dropped in just behind centre-forward Aubameyang. Hoffenheim also opted for a three-man rearguard but only when they had the ball. Without possession they switched to a back five that focused on stopping BVB from getting into the game, played very aggressively and looked to play long balls to Wagner and Uth in attack. Tuchel reshuffled following Reus' dismissal, opting for a back four in the second half (Ginter, Bender, Bartra, Schmelzer) in a 4-2-3 formation.

The match & analysis:
Much like the Gladbach match a fortnight ago, BVB were caught off-guard by their opponents in the opening stages. In fact, only 122 seconds had passed when Toljan played a long ball from his own half to Uth, who rounded the hesitant Weidenfeller in the box and slotted into the far corner from a narrow angle (3). But, much like two weeks ago, Borussia appeared unperturbed by the early setback and immediately pushed for the equaliser.

Schmelzer narrowly missed from a header (6) and Aubameyang shot inches wide of the post (7) before the third chance finally found the back of the net. Dembélé embarked upon an outstanding solo run, beating five opponents on the edge of the Hoffenheim penalty area before spotting and finding the unmarked Götze darting into the box on the left. The world champion picked his spot and sent an unstoppable shot into the bottom right corner (11) to net his first Bundesliga goal since returning to Dortmund.

But anyone who thought the two teams would look to shore up their defences after conceding early on were much mistaken. The match developed into a high-tempo and aggressive affair, posing a number of challenges for the referee. But more on that later. The Westphalians soon fell behind unnecessarily for the second time when a corner fell to Hübner on the penalty spot, who headed the ball goalbound. In the six-yard box Wagner beat Bender in the air thanks to a somewhat questionable push, flicking the ball on with his head and directing it into the net (20).

Marching orders for Reus

The Black and Yellows were again left chasing the game but were not able to hit back immediately this time, with Süle clearing from danger as Aubameyang was readying to shoot on the 27-minute mark before Dembélé's shot was thwarted by a Hoffenheim player (31). By this point, players on both teams were starting to make robust challenges with Reus (9), Bartra (27), Süle (30) and Hübner (39) having all seen yellow. But things were about to get worse for BVB: Amiri countered at speed down the right flank but was pursued by Reus and clearly pulled the Dortmund man's shirt, causing him to stumble and unintentionally fell the TSG midfielder in the process. However, referee Brand interpreted the action as foul play and sent Reus off for a second bookable offence (41).

The spectacular start and end to the first period was followed by an equally spectacular start to the second. Hoffenheim's first attack ended with Wagner hitting the post from six metres (48), before Dembélé countered for BVB and picked out Aubameyang, who chipped the ball over goalkeeper Baumann with Süle hot on his heels to make it 2-2 (48). Only 18 seconds had elapsed since Wagner had hit the woodwork at the other end.

The match continued at the same frenetic pace with the next Dembélé pass finding Aubameyang in the box barely two minutes later, but this time the Gabon international came off second best in his duel with Baumann as Borussia began to make light work of being a man down. The next gilt-edged chance for the Black and Yellows came soon afterwards, and once again the outstanding Dembélé was the provider. The Frenchman found Aubameyang with another pass, but this time Hübner got in the way of the striker's shot from ten metres and deflected the ball millimetres wide of his own goal (56).

In the spell that followed the men from Kraichgau managed to slow the game down for a while. For BVB, however, more bad news was on its way. Dembélé remained prostrate on the turf with 65 minutes on the clock following yet another foul and had to be carried off the pitch on a stretcher. Hopefully it won't be a serious injury for the young Frenchman, who was replaced by Mor (69). Shortly before the final whistle Weidenfeller denied Toljan fairly in the BVB box (84) and then held on to Kramaric's half-volley from seven metres out (89), while Aubameyang put a free-kick from 22 metres over the bar at the other end (87).

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Prospects:
On Tuesday (kick-off 20:00 CET) Borussia Dortmund will play their final match of 2016 when they welcome FC Augsburg to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK in the Bundesliga. It will be followed by the four-week winter break.

Teams & goals