Bundesliga
1-1: Philipp and Castro go off injured, but BVB come back!
Borussia Dortmund certainly missed the opportunity to deliver the complete turnaround that had been hoped for on matchday 14 of the football Bundesliga, but 1-1 (1-0) at the end of a tense away match at Bayer Leverkusen was a step forward, as Borussia dealt with two substitutions forced by injury to come back in the game on the Rhein and win for themselves a deserved point.
Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reports from Leverkusen
In a sold-out BayArena, 30,210 spectators saw BVB lose Philipp to injury in just the eighth minute of play, and subsequently Castro too shortly before the break (43') after he had been brutally scythed down by Wendell. The Brazilian earned a red card for his efforts. At this stage of the match, Leverkusen were already leading 1-0 thanks to a goal from Volland (30'). After the halftime oranges, BVB applied pressure in pursuit of the now deserved equaliser, which Yarmolenko got for them in the 73' minute. No further goals were forthcoming for the rest of the encounter.
All the videos from the game are available on BVBtotal!
How things stood:
Sixth against fifth. The two teams were separated by just one point going into the match. Consequently, Leverkusen were able to overtake BVB in the table with a win, whereas victory for the Black and Yellows would have moved them past Gladbach into fourth spot, at least for the night. A favourable result in the evening match between Schalke and Cologne might even have resulted in BVB going third and allowed them to observe their rivals from Gelsenkirchen in the rear-view mirror.
Personnel:
Aubameyang was absent due to suspension, and was replaced atop by Yarmolenko. Götze (partial tear to his ankle ligament) as well as the long-term injured Durm, Piszczek, Reus and Rode were also unavailable for BVB. Peter Bosz changed the team that had drawn 4-4 in the Ruhr derby in four positions. Subotic, Castro, Philipp for Götze and Bürki came back into the starting eleven. Weidenfeller and Toprak were on the bench at the start. The Company 11 were without Kohr (suspended due to an accumulation of yellows) and Yurchenko (injured).
Tactics:
Borussia set up as they had done for Schalke in a basic 3-4-3 formation, with Castro and Guerreiro falling back into the defensive row on the flanks when playing without the ball to form a back five. Philipp began up front in the middle, but was replaced by Schürrle after being forced off due to injury. Pulisic and Yarmolenko were on the wings. Leverkusen lined up in a 4-3-3, with Lars Bender playing defensive midfield. Volland started at centre forward, flanked by Brandt and Bailey, who hails from Jamaica.
Run of play and analysis:
Not five minutes had been played before BVB experienced their first misfortune of the fixture, as Philipp emerged the worse for it after duelling with Tah for the ball. During the challenge, he twisted his knee badly, and had to be taken off injured shortly after (8' minute). Schürrle came on in his stead, but BVB were clearly affected by the shock of the injury, and were for a time unable to get themselves into the game properly. While Peter Bosz's team did have the better of the possession, Leverkusen pressed very high, were quick to challenge for the ball, and got themselves into dangerous shooting positions on a number of occasions.
Bürki made two brilliant saves to stop BVB falling behind. First, he denied Sven Bender (12'), before foiling Brandt just moments later (13'), clawing the ball off the line at the bottom left of goal on both occasions. Soon after, the crossbar came to BVB's aid, as Havertz's headed effort from a short distance out rebounded off of it. Henrichs was next in line for a pot shot at BVB's goal as he fumbled his way into Dortmund's 18-yard box before unleashing a shot at the near post, but Bürki was positioned to make the save (26'). The game went to 1-0 in the Rhinelanders' favour after half an hour. Borussia were high up the field when they lost the ball just inside Leverkusen's half. Havertz launched a lightning quick counterattack by playing the ball through for Volland, who had started in his own half. Bürki had indeed come a long way out of his box, but the Bayer striker sent the ball past him before rounding him to give himself an open goal, into which he duly tucked away (30').
Red for Wendell - Castro forced off due to injury
To Bailey fell the Company 11's next chance on goal, though his attempt from around 14 metres out was deflected out for a corner by a Dortmund leg (32'). Only Yarmolenko left any trace of BVB's presence in front of the Leverkusen goal during the first half, but Leno saved his shot from 10 metres out easily (18'). Leverkusen forwent a brilliant opportunity to extend their winning margin to two goals not long before the break, but Bürki and Schmelzer were to deny Brandt and Volland chances that fell within seconds of each other (38'). The first ray of hope then shone for Borussia soon after, but it also came with their second lot of bad news for the day: Wendell committed a serious foul on Castro to the right of his own 18-yard box, treading on his ankle so badly that the Dortmund man had to be taken off and replaced. The Leverkusen player was shown a fully justified straight red after referee Robert Hartmann had reviewed the scene on the sideline (41'). Guerreiro curled the awarded free kick audaciously towards the near post, but Leno was on hand to save (43').
Now with a man advantage, BVB put their opposition under a good amount of pressure during the five minutes of injury time appended to the first half, but were unable to convert it into a goal. After the break the Westphalia men grew ever stronger, and came ever closer to equalising. Schürrle hit only the post from a half left position six metres out (56'), just before Yarmolenko went to ground after a tackle by Retsos in the 18-yard box. After a review using the video assistant, no penalty kick was awarded (53'). Thereafter, Bayer 04 were better organised and barricaded their own box, while still remaining dangerous on the counter. Bürki denied Volland again to keep the score at 1-0 (72'). Pulisic had tried his luck from the edge of the area shortly before, but his shot had been off target (70').
Borussia kept at it and sensed that there was still something in it for them. The breakthrough came in the 73' minute: Guerreiro fed Schürrle in the 18-yard box, who then laid the ball off for Yarmolenko in the centre. The Ukrainian controlled the ball wonderfully before sinking it into the bottom right of goal from eight metres out (73'). During the match's dying minutes, the Black and Yellows went full at it, but also had to remain cautious not to concede any more Leverkusen goals on the counter. Bürki protected the point by holding onto a stinging free kick hit by Bailey (89'). Despite chaos in the Leverkusen box, Schürrle was unable to get the ball over the line to decide the fixture for BVB in injury time (90+1').
All the videos from the game are available on BVBtotal!
Coming up:
Borussia Dortmund travel to Real Madrid for their last group game in the UEFA Champions League this Wednesday. Werder Bremen are the visiting team next Saturday in the league.