Borussia Dortmund drew 1-1 with Hertha BSC in a stormy encounter on Friday evening to extend their unbeaten run at home in the Bundesliga to 25 matches and set a new club record in the process.

80,800 fans at Signal Iduna Park saw Valentin Stocker fire the visitors into the lead after 51 minutes, after which Aubameyang missed a penalty before finally restoring parity on the 80-minute mark. In the closing stages Emre Mor (84) and Valentin Stocker (90) were both sent off. Mor's dismissal was a highly contentious decision.

Felix Ulrich reports

The scenario
Hertha had made their best start to a Bundesliga campaign in 46 years, winning four, drawing one and losing one to climb to second, while Borussia sat one place behind them, on 12 points, and were unbeaten in four competitive games against the capital club (three wins and a draw), a streak in which they had only conceded once. Thomas Tuchel said before the match: "I expect Hertha to be compact and show great tactical discipline. It is incredibly difficult to create chances against this team. We'll need to play at a high tempo and show persistence if we want to get a result." BVB went into the game knowing a win or a draw would suffice to set a new club record: never before in their history had Borussia Dortmund avoided defeat in 25 consecutive home league games! The previous record of 24 matches was set between 3 November 2001 and 15 March 2003.

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Mikel Merino made his Bundesliga debut against Hertha.

Personnel matters
Mikel Merino was named in the starting XI for BVB, the Spaniard making his Bundesliga debut alongside Matthias Ginter in central defence. There were five (enforced) changes to the side that were beaten 2-0 by Leverkusen: in addition to Merino, Götze, Mor, Passlack and Schmelzer started the match as replacements for Castro (fibre tear), Dembele (on the bench after an ankle injury), Guerreiro (fibre tear), Piszczek (knee) and Sokratis (strain). Other absentees included Schürrle (medial collateral ligament), Bender (bone marrow oedema), Reus, Subotic (both in fitness training), Ramos (muscular problems) and Durm (knee operation). Hertha coach Pal Dardei made one change, bringing in Brooks for the injured Lustenberger (pelvic bruising).

Tactics
Standing right on the edge of his technical area, Thomas Tuchel cut an animated figure on the sidelines as he gesticulated and instructed his team on how to keep their shape and where to run and pass. BVB lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Rode as the link between defence and attack. Sitting deep in his own half, behind Weigl even, he would call for and receive the ball, then drive forward to join Pulisic, Götze and Mor in attacking midfield and consistently offer his team-mates an extra option going forward. Hertha also took to the field in a 4-2-3-1, but with a large emphasis on defence as expected. When Dortmund had the ball, they formed two compact banks of four and played with two aggressively pressing forwards – mostly Ibisevic and Haraguchi – as the first line of defence.

The match & analysis
Thomas Tuchel was spot-on with his pre-match prediction: BVB did dominate proceedings in the opening 45 minutes against Hertha, enjoying 75 percent possession and registering a pass completion rate of 87 percent, but the Black and Yellows didn't really threaten their opponents' goal. Borussia were lacking in ideas on how to break down the Berlin wall, rarely getting any closer than 20 metres to the visitors' goal. It was an intensive first half (8:10 fouls) that produced little in the way of chances (2:5 shots).

The best chance for the capital club fell to Esswein, whose shot from 17 metres sailed narrowly over. At the other end Pulisic broke free down the right flank on one occasion, but his pass into the centre failed to reach a fellow Black and Yellow (20). Little else of note occurred before the break.

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Mario Götze was substituted off after an hour.

The Black and Yellows made a lively start to the second period, finally carving out some chances. But Mor's left-footed effort lacked accuracy (47), while Ginter didn't connect properly with a header (50). Schmelzer had the first shot on target when he let fly from 22 metres out, forcing the visiting goalkeeper Jarstein into a save (62). By this point Kagawa and Dembélé had already entered the fray in place of Rode and Götze in a bid to breathe new life into BVB's attack. And the visitors were leading, too.

Having escaped from Merino, Stocker opened the scoring for the visitors with his second of the season after being set up beautifully by Ibisevic (51). The Bosnian had held off Ginter and Götze following a Weiser throw-in, before back-heeling the ball through for Stocker to slot home.

Aubameyang hits post and misses penalty

In the 65th and 67th minutes Aubameyang had two chances to equalise for the hosts. The Gabon international missed the first from five metres after failing to control Mor's cross, before being played clean-through on Jarstein by Dembélé and attempting a lob. But Hertha's custodian was equal to it, pushing the ball onto the right post. Ten minutes later it was Aubameyang vs Jarstein once again, the Norwegian denying "Auba" from the spot after making a low save. The penalty had been awarded when Haraguchi handled a Kagawa shot in the box (75).

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Felix Passlack featured at right-back against Hertha.

However, BVB and Aubameyang put the setback behind them and continued to pour forward, finally finding the net with their 13th effort of the match. Merino had fed Dembélé on the left of the penalty area, and Aubameyang was on hand at the far post to slot the ball home (80).

The focus soon turned to referee Patrick Ittrich, who sent off Mor for a push on Langkamp even though he had been held back by the Hertha player directly beforehand (84). sky pundit Dr. Markus Merk described it as a "harsh decision, but in accordance with the rules of the game".

Hertha's Stocker sees red too

The men from the capital were then reduced to ten men in the 90th minute, Stocker receiving a red card for a two-footed tackle on Ginter. BVB then had three minutes of stoppage time to complete the comeback, but the fairest teams in the league prior to this encounter ultimately had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Prospects
BVB's next outing comes in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, when they travel away to Sporting Lisbon (20:45 CET). The Black and Yellows then travel to FC Ingolstadt the following Saturday (15:30 CET). The next home game takes place on 26 October (20:45 CET) in the DFB Cup against 1. FC Union Berlin.

Teams & goals