Aubameyang nets for BVB in 1-1 derby draw with Schalke

Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reporting

The 62,271 spectators at a sold-out Veltins Arena – including around 6,000 travelling BVB fans – saw the Black and Yellows dominate the derby without initially getting the goals they deserved, although Dembélé and Aubameyang wrought havoc in the Schalke defence time and time again in the opening 45 minutes and repeatedly came close to edging Borussia's noses in front before the break. After the interval they finally made the breakthrough when Aubameyang fired the visitors into a 53rd-minute lead, but further chances for the Gabon international and Dembélé went begging before Schalke restored parity in the final quarter of an hour (77).

Reactions, interviews and all the other info on the Ruhr derby available now at BVBtotal!

The scenario:
The Royal Blues had failed to win any of their previous four clashes with BVB, whose only defeat in the last seven derbies came when they lost 2-1 in Gelsenkirchen in September 2014. The Black and Yellows had the marginally better head-to-head record going into the 150th Ruhr derby, with 32 victories, 27 draws and 30 defeats against Schalke in the Bundesliga. Ten of the stalemates between the sides have ended 0-0 – no other pairing in the history of the German top flight has produced as many goalless draws.

Personnel matters:
Longer-term absentees Sebastian Rode (fitness training following groin operation), Mario Götze (metabolic disorder) and Marco Reus (fitness training following a fibre tear) were joined on the sidelines by André Schürrle (ankle injury) and Erik Durm (muscular problems) for this one. Thomas Tuchel made four changes to the starting XI that narrowly beat Ingolstadt last time out, bringing in Bartra, Passlack, Weigl and Dembélé in place of Ginter, Durm, Pulisic and Guerreiro. It was the first time Passlack had featured in the starting line-up since the reverse fixture earlier this term. Schalke were without Kolasinac (muscular problems), Aogo (ankle), Baba (torn cruciate ligament and meniscus damage), Naldo (pubic bone), Uchida and Embolo (both fitness). Coke started a match for Schalke for the first time this season.

Tactics:
It took Schalke some time in the opening stages to adapt to the Black and Yellows' 3-2-4-1 formation. Castro and Weigl occupied the two defensive midfield berths in front of the now well-established back three of Piszczek, Sokratis and Bartra, while Passlack (right) and Schmelzer occupied the wide positions in the attacking midfield quartet, with Kagawa and Dembélé playing in a more central position behind lone striker Aubameyang. Schalke took to the field in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Kehrer moved across from the right to the left side of defence, while Caligiuri replaced Choupo-Moting on the right of the attacking midfield trio.

The match & analysis:
The Royal Blues were restricted to counter-attacks in the opening 45 minutes, with most of their time spent trying to keep the Black and Yellow juggernaut at bay. The visitors dominated for lengthy spells, saw more of the ball and on several occasions came close to beating Schalke shot-stopper Fährmann, who made a last-ditch save in the 22nd minute to deny Dembélé after he had been played in by Aubameyang. The Frenchman had first made his mark on the match after four minutes, bursting towards the Schalke goal from the left with a brilliant solo run, only for Kehrer to intercept his pass to Aubameyang at the last second. With exactly half an hour gone, Dembélé narrowly drilled the ball wide from 16 metres out, before Aubameyang failed to beat Fährmann from a narrow angle four minutes later after getting the better of Höwedes down the right.

It was an entirely satisfactory first-half display from BVB, even though Schalke had looked relatively solid at the back and twice came close to opening the scoring through Burgstaller in the fifth minute and a Caligiuri free-kick on the 26-minute mark. On both occasions, though, the Royal Blues were off target and Borussia Dortmund otherwise had the game under control. They did, however, fail to make the most of their chances before the interval, with Aubameyang's long-range effort in the 42nd minute, which was deflected narrowly wide by Nastasic, the last chance of the first period.

Kagawa with the assist, Aubameyang with the goal

Borussia experienced an upturn in fortunes after the interval, however, with a shot on the turn from Schalke's Burgstaller sparking off a chain of events that led to a deserved opener for the visitors. Bürki saved comfortably and quickly distributed the ball out to Dembélé, who carried it into the opposition half before playing a perfectly-timed ball through to Kagawa. The Japan international, clean through on shot-stopper Fährmann's goal, spotted Aubameyang in a better position and squared it for the Gabon international to open the scoring with a simple tap-in in the 53rd minute.

The goal transformed what had up until that point been a good Ruhr derby into an excellent one with both teams playing a high-tempo game. Schalke threw more caution to the wind, creating their best chance from a corner for Höwedes, but Bürki made a comfortable save to deny the defender (57). Almost immediately afterwards Aubameyang had the chance to double the advantage in a one-on-one with Fährmann, but he attempted to square it to the better-placed Dembélé – as Kagawa had done in the build-up to the opener – and Höwedes was able to make the interception (58). A minute later Schmelzer fizzed in a cross from the left but Schalke cleared it away for a corner.

Dembélé strikes the woodwork

The closing stages were a hectic battle, with Schalke pressing in search of an equaliser and BVB making use of the space at the back to counter. Aubameyang chipped in a cross from the left in the 73rd minute but it was slightly too high for Kagawa. Then, seconds later, Dembélé broke down the left and cut inwards before curling a shot from 12 metres against the upright, but the rebound bounced tantalisingly out of Aubameyang's reach (74). Minutes later Schalke's Kehrer restored parity when he drilled a cutback inside the near post from 12 metres out after the hosts had recycled a corner (77). There were no further goals in the hectic and highly entertaining final minutes that followed.

Reactions, interviews and all the other info on the Ruhr derby now available at BVBtotal!

Prospects:
There are midweek fixtures in the Bundesliga, with BVB playing host to Hamburg on Tuesday evening (20:00 CET). Next Saturday (18:30 CET) they travel to Munich to face league leaders Bayern.

Teams & goals