2-0 loss to Union: BVB slip up in Berlin

Boris Rupert reporting from Berlin

BVB gave away the two goals they conceded in front of 22,012 fans at a sold-out Stadion an der Alten Försterei on a silver platter, with Janik Haberer the beneficiary in the eighth and 21st minutes. Coach Edin Terzic tweaked the system after the interval (back to a 4-3-3) and made three substitutions, but it was not until the closing minutes that his team made some inroads in behind.

The scenario:  
This was the first time in 12 years that Borussia Dortmund had travelled away to a league leader that was not Bayern Munich. The Köpenick outfit had won three of their previous four league matches and – including last season – had lost only one of their previous 16 games. Four points separated the teams in the table. "Reduce the deficit to one point," was the objective outlined by head coach Edin Terzic in the lead-up. In the Bundesliga, this match-up has been won by the home team five times and by the away team only once – in their last meeting on 13 February 2022 – when BVB triumphed 3-0.

Personnel matters: 
The two-goal scorer in the 3-0 victory that day, Marco Reus, was reintroduced to the squad for the first time since suffering an ankle injury four weeks ago. Thomas Meunier also returned to the fold – unlike Anthony Modeste (thigh problems and infection) and Marius Wolf – after recently being substituted with an injury. As has been the case in recent weeks, Bynoe-Gittens, Dahoud (both shoulder operations), Haller (tumour) and Morey (knee injury) remained unavailable. There were four changes to the BVB team that drew 1-1 with Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League five days ago, with Schlotterbeck, Can, Guerreiro and Moukoko lining up in place of Rothe, Brandt und Malen (all substitutes) and Modeste.

Tactics:  
Both teams took to the field with a 3-3-2-2 formation; BVB lined up with a three-man defence, in which Hummels occupied the central position, for the first time this season. Directly in front of him was Can, who was flanked by the wide players Meunier and Guerreiro. Bellingham and Özcan took up the midfield roles behind the two forwards Moukoko and Adeyemi. Union were aggressive from the off, switched player positions with great flexibility and pressed very high up until the opening goal.

The match & analysis:
BVB initially struggled to string together several passes within their own ranks. Going forward they made few inroads against the best defence in the division, who had conceded six goals in their opening nine matches. Their first sight of goal came when a long cross played towards Can was misjudged by goalkeeper Rönnow, but his header went over (7).

All eight previous competitive meetings had been won by the team that went 1-0 up. And Union went straight down the other end and scored that opener. Guerreiro played a back-pass towards Kobel, who went to kick it but slipped over in the process. Haberer was clean through and slotted the ball into the empty net from within the six-yard box. There was a promising opportunity to equalise following a foul on Adeyemi in the 17th minute, but Bellingham's free-kick from 21 metres out went over the bar. Union doubled their lead to 2-0 four minutes later following a serious error by Adeyemi. Jordan teed Becker's cross from the right flank back into the path of Haberer, whose low drive from 18 metres found the bottom left corner. BVB made every effort and had recorded 72% possession by the 30-minute mark but never looked dangerous and continued to make too many errors. The shot count stood at 11-3 by this point and 12-4 by half-time, eight minutes before which Moukoko had a shot on the turn blocked by an opponent (37).

Borussia re-emerged with fresh legs and a tweaked tactical set-up: they were now in a 4-3-3 in which Süle, Hummels, Schlotterbeck and Guerreiro formed the back four, Can continued to protect the defence, and Bellingham and Reus occupied the offensive midfield positions behind the front three of Brandt, Moukoko and Malen. Özcan, Meunier and Adeyemi stayed in the changing rooms.

BVB continued to dominate the play but there were no moments of surprise, tempo or penetration to the game. It was almost all square balls. Union, who sat deep, had no problems defending Dortmund's attacks and even registered the first and – until the closing stages – best goalscoring opportunity of the second half when Kobel made a strong save against Baumgartl (56).

Hazard came on in place of Süle on the right of "defence" in the final 20 minutes. But the pattern of square and back-passes remained the same. They posed a threat when they upped the tempo for the first time, with Reus accelerating in the centre-left of midfield and playing a quick one-two, but he was forced too far out wide, and the angle was too tight by the time he could shoot. Rönnow blocked it with his chest (77). Moukoko had two attempts shortly after, but both were turned behind for corners by Rönnow (80/83).

Outlook:  
BVB will travel to Hannover 96 in the second round of DFB-Pokal on Wednesday. Kick-off is at 18:00 CET. Their next opponents in the Bundesliga are VfB Stuttgart (Saturday 22 October at 15:30 CET, SIGNAL IDUNA PARK).

Teams & goals

Bundesliga Matchday 10
1. FC UNION BERLIN 2-0 (2-0) BORUSSIA DORTMUND

Union Berlin: Rönnow – Baumgartl, Knoche, Leite – Trimmel, Khedira, Ryerson – Schäfer (Pantovic, 87), Haberer (Thorsby, 62) – Jordan (Behrens, 67), Becker (Leweling, 87)
Bor. Dortmund: Kobel – Süle (Hazard, 70), Hummels, Schlotterbeck – Meunier (Brandt, 46), Can (Reyna, 82), Guerreiro – Bellingham, Öczan (Reus, 46) – Moukoko, Adeyemi (Malen, 46)
Substitutes: Grill, Doekhi, Michel, Seguin, Gießelmann – Meyer, Passlack, Rothe, Papadopoulos
Goals: 1-0 Haberer (8), 2-0 Haberer (Jordan, 21)
Corners: 4-8 (2-2 at half-time), chance ratio: 3-3 (2-1)
Referee: Stieler (Hamburg), yellow cards: Baumgartl – Özcan, Schlotterbeck
Attendance: 22,012 (sold-out), weather: sunny, 18 degrees