Borussia Dortmund hosted Hertha Berlin Friday night at the Westfalenstadion to mark the return of Bundesliga. GGFN’s Jack Grimse brings you three things we learned from the 1-1 draw that kept Hertha in second place, a point ahead of Dortmund.
The first half was scoreless, with Dortmund bossing possession. Despite seeing almost twice as much of the ball as Hertha, they had fewer attempts on goal, and looked tame in truth.
Hertha will lull you to sleep, then strike
It didn’t take long for the visitors to find the back of the net after the break. Vedad Ibišević provided the hold-up play, then fed Valentin Stocker with a backheel to take another two defenders out position. Stocker finished past Dortmund’s Roman Bürki in goal to make it BVB 0-1 Hertha.
But they need to do better defending a lead
Hertha goalkeeper Rune Jarstein may have saved a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty 77 minutes in, but the Dortmund striker scored with ten minutes remaining to level the match at one. When Shinji Kagawa and Ousmane Dembélé came on for BVB, they really bossed the match. After the goal, Hertha were rattled, but managed to hang on for a point. Luckily, Stocker’s red card came in the 90th minute.
Developing depth key for Dortmund
Thomas Tuchel was without many of his first-choice players following the international break. The drop-off in quality was apparent, but young talents like Christian Pulisic and Emre Mor will continue to develop as the year goes on. Mor, however, was sent off with five minutes in regulation for pushing Sebastian Langkamp. Inexperience showed for the home side.
Goals:
Borussia Dortmund: Aubameyang (80′).
Hertha Berlin: Stocker (51′).
Red Cards:
Borussia Dortmund: Mor (84′).
Hertha Berlin: Stocker (90′).
Lineups:
Borussia Dortmund:
Bürki; Passlack, Ginter, Merino, Schmelzer (Park 71′); Weigl, Rode (Dembélé 60′); Pulisic, Götze (Kagawa 60′), Mor; Aubameyang.
Hertha Berlin:
Jarstein; Weiser, Langkamp, Brooks, Plattenhardt; Skjelbred (Allan 78′), Stark; Esswein (Mittelstädt 90′), Stocker, Haraguchi; Ibišević (Allagui 81′).
