Match Report
Hard-fought 2-1 home win against St. Pauli
Boris Rupert reporting
Rami Bensebaini's header in the 43rd minute put BVB ahead in front of 81,365 spectators at a sold-out SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. But even after the opening goal, it remained a dogged and unexciting encounter. Eric Smith levelled courtesy of a long-range thundercracker in the 78th minute, but Serhou Guirassy scored to make it 2-1 only five minutes later.
The scenario:
It was seventh place in the table at home to 15th place. Borussia Dortmund were unbeaten in 10 Bundesliga matches against FC St. Pauli (nine wins and one draw) and did not have a better record against any other current Bundesliga club: 11 victories and only two defeats from 16 top-flight encounters overall. The Hamburg outfit had picked up three of their four points in total away from home (in the 3-0 victory in Freiburg), while BVB had won each of their previous four home games in all competitions this season and had scored four goals on average.
Personnel matters:
Coach Nuri Sahin had to do without the injured Adeyemi, Couto, Duranville and Reyna as well as the ill Süle. That meant that five first-team players were absent and that only four experienced players were on the bench: Meyer, Nmecha, Beier and Gittens, in addition to youth players Campbell, Wätjen, Mané, Kabar and Lührs.
Tactics:
The visitors sat deep with five men in their last line of defence, a compact bank of four in front and only one player close to the halfway line. When in possession, the Hamburg outfit switched to a 3-4-2-1 formation. BVB returned to their approach from the opening weeks of the season: When in possession, Ryerson pushed very far forward on the right flank and thus turned the 4-2-3-1 into a 3-2-4-1, with Can frequently dropping between the central defenders during build-up play and Ryerson, Malen, Brandt and Sabitzer in a line in attacking midfield. Overall, Dortmund's play was very high up the pitch. Anton was frequently the "last man" for BVB, 10 metres inside the opposition half.
The match & analysis:
High, but not forceful enough. The Black & Yellows made too little from more than 70% possession in the first 45 minutes. Their superiority on the field lacked moments of surprise. Only once did they break through: Brandt in a centre-left position threaded through to Guirassy, whose first-time shot was saved by keeper Vasilj (6). St. Pauli rarely ventured out of their own half but were very dangerous when they did. After Can lost possession, Bensebaini made a last-ditch intervention to stop Afolayan making it 1-0 (16) but was then too late getting to Guilavogui, who prodded Smith's crossed free-kick into the Dortmund goal after exactly half an hour but had started his run narrowly in an offside position. After a check that lasted minutes, the goal was disallowed. A moment of creativity from Groß in a centre-right position brought about the opening goal shortly before half-time. The cross – the 11th of the match – was headed by Bensebaini into the bottom right corner from around 11 metres (43).
Groß, who had delivered four of those 11 crosses, stayed in the changing room at half-time (presumably as a precautionary measure) and was replaced by Gittens. Sabitzer moved from the left flank into the middle. But it remained dogged as no tempo and thus no penetration were injected into the game. The hard-running visitors remained well-organised. It was only when attacks were conducted quickly – like in the 57th minute when Sabitzer accelerated and Brandt shot – that keeper Vasilj was troubled. Or after an hour when Brandt's pass picked out Guirassy, but the striker was denied by the keeper (64). Gittens broke through on the left seconds later but Guirassy missed it on the edge of the six-yard box, as did Malen at the back post. But the pressure only increased briefly.
The equaliser was not on the cards for long but it did come. Smith ran onto a deflected ball and hammered a shot into the net from a good 25 metres to make it 1-1 (78). But BVB struck back only five minutes later: Sabitzer fed Gittens, whose cross was powerfully headed home by Guirassy in the middle. Brandt could have wrapped up the result but Vasilj cleared outstandingly for the third time this evening (87). Dzwigala missed the chance to make it 2-2 in stoppage time. He fired over the bar from six metres.
Outlook:
BVB will be away to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League at 21:00 CEST on Tuesday, before paying a visit to FC Augsburg at 15:30 CEST on Saturday next week.
Teams & goals
Bundesliga Matchday 7
BORUSSIA DORTMUND 2-1 (1-0) FC ST. PAULI
Bor. Dortmund: Kobel – Ryerson, Anton, Schlotterbeck, Bensebaini – Groß (Gittens, 46), Can (Nmecha, 69) – Malen (Beier, 76), Brandt (Wätjen, 90+5), Sabitzer – Guirassy
FC St. Pauli: Vasilj – Wahl, Smith, Mets – Saliakas (Dzwigala, 82), Irvine, Wagner, Treu – Afolayan (Sinani, 88), Guilavogui (Banks, 69) – Eggestein (Albers, 88)
Substitutes: Meyer, Campbell, Mané, Kabar, Gittens, Lührs – Seibt, Nemeth, Ritzka, Boukhalfa, Schmitz
Goals: 1-0 Bensebaini (Groß, 43), 1-1 Smith (78), 2-1 Guirassy (Gittens, 83)
Corners: 7-2 (4-1 at half-time), chance ratio: 8-4 (4-2)
Referee: Dr. Jöllenbeck (Freiburg), yellow cards: Gittens, Brandt – Smith
Attendance: 81,365 (sold-out), weather: dry, 15 degrees