Borussia Dortmund were able to end their poor run of form coming from behind to beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-2.
The first half proved to be full of goals. Gladbach were by far the better team throughout and took the lead when Rocco Reitz got his second goal in as many games before Manu Koné’s effort also beat Gregor Kobel. Then Marcel Sabitzer initiated the comeback for Dortmund before Niclas Füllkrug equalised and then Jamie Bynoe-Gittens made it 3-2 before halftime.
In the second half, the action fizzled out but Dortmund began to play like a team that actually deserved to be in the lead. Nothing of note happened until the 97th minute when Donyell Malen scored a fourth through a counter-attack after Moritz Nicolas came forward for a corner.
Borussia Dortmund:
Gregor Kobel – 5
Julian Ryerson – 5
Mats Hummels – 5
Nico Schlotterbeck – 6
Ramy Bensebaini – 6
Emre Can – 5
Marcel Sabitzer – 6
Jamie Bynoe-Gittens – 8 – Shown that he is by far one of the best wingers at Dortmund. Having not played a Bundesliga game for Dortmund since October, Bynoe-Gittens immediately looked at home and was one of the driving forces behind Dortmund’s comeback.
Marco Reus – 6
Julian Brandt – 6
Niclas Füllkrug – 7
Others: Giovanni Reyna (5), Salih Özcan (5), Donyell Malen (6), Youssoufa Moukoko (5), Marius Wolf (-)
Borussia Mönchengladbach:
Mortiz Nicolas – 5
Joe Scally – 5
Nico Elvedi – 5
Maximilian Wöber – 5
Franck Honorat – 6
Rocco Reitz – 7 – After his performances against Wolfsburg and for the Germany under-21s, Reitz continued his rise this season with a strong performance and he was rewarded once again with the opening goal. Regardless of his teammate Koné’s future, Reitz will comfortably be able to fill in for the Frenchman. It is even more rewarding that Reitz is a product of the Gladbach academy and looks like the best player to be produced since Marc-André ter Stegen.
Julian Weigl – 6
Manu Koné – 7 – Koné had been struggling to find his form after suffering from a knee injury in the summer but his recent performances have shown that he is finally getting back to his old level once again. The 22-year-old converted a finely taken strike to double Gladbach’s lead.
Luca Netz – 6
Alassane Pléa – 6
Jordan – 5
Others: Tomáš Čvančara (5), Nathan N’Goumou (6), Robin Hack (5), Florian Neuhaus (5), Christoph Kramer (-)
GGFN | Jack Meenan
