BVB labour to 1-0 win over H96 despite strong start

Boris Rupert reporting

The 81,360 spectators at a sun-drenched but bitter-cold Signal Iduna Park – icy winds made it feel much colder than the actual temperature of -3 degrees displayed on the thermometer – saw BVB make a bright start, hitting the upright through Batshuayi with just 44 seconds on the clock before deservedly taking the lead through the Belgian frontman on the 24-minute mark. Their dominance waned in the second half, however, and they seemed to be hanging on for the win towards the end despite having had more chances (10-3) and hitting the woodwork twice.

The scenario: 
BVB lost the reverse fixture 4-2 but had won six of their previous seven home games against Hannover and were looking to cement themselves in a Champions League position in the last match before the international break. The promoted side were winless on the road in eight outings, with the last victory coming in a 2-1 win in Augsburg on 21 October 2017.

Personnel matters:  
Peter Stöger recalled Toprak and Pulisic after the pair had missed the match in Salzburg, but Reus (muscular problems) and Zagadou (muscle injury) joined absentees Kagawa, Yarmolenko, Durm and Rode in the treatment room.

Tactics:
Hannover lined up in a clear 5-2-3 formation without the ball, with Korb on the right and Ostrzolek on the left expanding the three-man rearguard into a back five that was protected by a deep-lying defensive midfield duo of Schwegler and Bakalorz. The attacking triumvirate of Klaus, Jonathas and Füllkrug formed the first line of defence. Although the men from Lower Saxony adopted a defensive approach, the Black & Yellows – lining up in their 4-2-3-1 system – quickly identified gaps at the back and were initially quicker than their visitors into the tackles.

The match & analysis:
Some significant traffic problems – caused by two fairs taking place concurrently – meant that many spectators were still making their way to the stadium when BVB first threatened the Hannover goal after 44 seconds. Having received the ball from Schürrle, Batshuayi did well to create space for himself and beat goalkeeper Tschauner with his shot – only to see the ball rebound off the upright and back into the danger zone, although the visitors eventually alleviated the threat.

Further good chances fell to Schmelzer in the third minute (shot into the side-netting), Castro four minutes later (shot cleared for a corner) and Schürrle on the nine-minute mark (shot on the turn over the bar), all created by exploiting the gaps in the Hannover defence with tidy build-up play. The hosts' four attacking players were very active, disrupting the five-man defence in their build-up play as well making themselves available to receive the ball and difficult to dispossess.

Technical perfection from Batshuayi from Schürrle corner

The opener came about from a Schürrle corner and was executed to technical perfection by Batshuayi, who escaped his markers at the near-post as the delivery came in and flicked the ball into the far corner of the net with his back to goal (24). A short while later, a dangerous-looking Schmelzer cross sailed towards the Hannover goal and Tschauner only just managed to clear, before Piszczek's follow-up was scrambled away by the defence (27). 

Having faced 12 shots to their two in the opening half-hour, the men from Lower Saxony were lucky to be only one behind and Tschauner did well to stop the deficit from doubling by making a save with an outstretched leg in the 34th minute. Schürrle had done well to keep the ball in play and Castro had fired a shot from 20 metres that landed at the feet of Batshuayi, whose effort from a centre-right position nine metres out was denied by the lightning reactions of the visiting shot-stopper. The Belgian headed the rebound towards goal but Tschauner saved that too.

Bürki first called into action on 40 minutes

Hannover, who this season have claimed points from losing positions on seven occasions, created their first good chance in the 40th minute but Bürki was on hand to make an excellent and lightning-quick save with his foot to block Schwegler's volley from the corner of the six-yard box.

The hosts, who replaced the injured Toprak with Sokratis at the interval, came close to conceding the equaliser following a 48th-minute corner but then threatened with two dangerous long-range efforts from Dahoud – however, those attempts in the 49th and 50th minutes respectively were dealt with by Tschauner.

By this point, though, Hannover were growing into the game and the counter-pressing that had been deployed by Dortmund earlier in the match was no longer as effective and they looked less stable in defence. The shot ratio on the hour-mark was 20-8.

Philipp hits upright in 89th minute

With BVB wobbling, the all-important second goal would not come. Dahoud's effort missed by centimetres in the 69th minute. In the closing stages, Hannover switched to four at the back and brought on additional firepower in the form of Fossum. BVB had already replaced Castro and Pulisic with Weigl and Philipp. The visitors even found the net, although it was disallowed for offside (81). At the other end, Philipp hit the upright after receiving the ball from Batshuayi (89). A short while later, Tschauner spilled a Götze cross and Batshuayi immediately pounced but his shot was cleared off the goal-line.

Outlook: 
It's now time for the international break and BVB will not resume domestic duties until 31 March (kick-off 18:30 CET), when they visit FC Bayern. Their next home game comes against VfB Stuttgart on Sunday 8 April.

Teams & goals