A Friday evening game under the floodlights between two historic Bundesliga clubs saw Borussia Dortmund win 1-0 against SV Werder Bremen, courtesy of Julian Brandt’s delicate chip (67’). The Green-Whites defended bravely against the attacking riches of the hosts, but they lacked the necessary edge when going forward. Here’s the full match report.
Line-up and formation: Ole Werner made five changes to his side for the clash against Borussia Dortmund following the international break. Due to Jiri Pavlenka currently being sidelined with an injury, Michael Zetterer filled in as the Green-Whites’ goalkeeper. David Kownacki and Leonardo Bittencourt also made the starting eleven, as well as Jens Stage and Olivier Deman.
Senne Lynen, Justin Njinmah and Nicolai Rapp started on the bench, alongside academy goalkeeper Spyros Angelidis, who was included in a Bundesliga squad for the first time.
Starting XI: Zetterer – Deman, Jung, Stage, Ducksch, Weiser, Kownacki, Bittencourt, Veljkovic, Schmid and Friedl.
Bench: Angelidis, Lynen, Njinmah, Borré, Rapp, Agu, Woltemade, Opitz and Groß
First-half highlights:
6th minute: Nmecha plays it to Malen around 25 yards out from goal, who gets a shot away from a central position. The ball soars towards the Werder goal, but Zetti is there to parry it wide for a corner.
13th minute: Ducksch takes a corner for SVW, which almost reaches an unmarked Bittencourt, but the cross is too high for him and he can’t get a good enough connection on it.
24th minute: Ryerson cuts inside and tries to pick out the bottom corner of the Green-Whites’ goal, but Zetti is on his toes and pushes it round the post for a corner.
31st minute: SVW breathe a sigh of relief as Dortmund come extremely close to opening the scoring. Werder lose possession just outside of their own box, and the hosts immediately pounce on them. Two passes are made and the ball reaches Reus, who has a go from six yards out, but the ball flies narrowly wide of the post. A stroke of luck for the Green-Whites.
45th minute: Malen fires the ball towards the near post, but is denied by the woodwork. It’s nerve-wracking, but SVW are still very much in the game.
45th minute + 3: Half-time!
Second-half highlights:
53rd minute: Reus plays a fine ball to Malen from deep. His volley from a tight angle flies just past the far corner.
59th minute: Werder combine well in the hosts’ penalty box. Bittencourt has a go, but Schlotterbeck is just able to deny the visitors the opener. He stops the ball in its tracks, and Kobel collects it.
67th minute: Gutting. Brandt scores to put the hosts in the lead. Captain Can intelligently plays an incisive through ball to carve open the Werder back line. Brandt sprints into the gap and is one-on-one with the keeper, who he chips to put Dortmund ahead.
87th minute: A great chance for SVW! Njinmah pulls the trigger from the right hand side of the penalty box. Kobel uses his legs to keep out his low shot and deny Werder an equaliser.
90th minute + 5: Full-time.
Summary: Dortmund struggled for a long time in the first half against a Werder side that were able to show their attacking quality in patches. However, BVB were more dominant and had more dangerous moments. There was a glimmer of hope for SVW at the end with Njinmah’s chance, but the visitors were unable to steal a point off Dortmund and deservedly went home empty-handed.
