Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Hertha Berlin
I don’t think anyone even dreamt up this Bundesliga fixture.
Borussia Dortmund were the steady leaders of the league and were favoured to defeat Hertha Berlin in a low-scoring affair. With players such as Marco Reus, Maro Gotze and Jadon Sancho in the squad, there was little doubt for the BVB triumph.
However, Salomon Kalou had other plans. He decided to apply his magic late in the halves of the game that turned out to be frustrating for the hosts.
Highlights of the game
The BVB started by playing great football, continuing the stellar performance they showcased in their Champions League rout of Atletico Madrid. Achraf Hakimi fired the first salvo after some beautiful passing by the BVB in the third minute. Reus and Sancho connected for a great shot one minute later.
Of course, Hertha Berlin didn’t come to the home of the Yellow Wall just to fill the numbers. Niklas Stark almost put the Blue-Whites ahead when he met a set piece ball and headed it towards the goal. Roman Burki was more than ready to save the ball, however.
The nets of the Signal Iduna weren’t rattled until the 19th minute when Reus made a cutting run inside the 18-yard box to get the ball in the penalty area. He then crossed the ball to Sancho in front of the goal, and that was an opportunity the young England international would not miss. However, the VAR correctly ruled Reus’ run as offside. Sascha Stegemann disallowed the goal, much to the fans’ dismay.
However, it was clear from that point out that the game was Dortmund’s to lose. The BVB continued dominating possession and piercing attacks to the Berlin defence. Their guests were barely able to get the ball past their own half.
Sancho was eventually able to add a goal to his stat line in the 27th minute. Mario Gotze produced a brilliant pass to Sancho during a brilliant counter-attack. The brilliant speedster slotted the ball clearly, and no VAR could deny him of the goal this time.
The first goal boosted BVB’s dominance on the pitch. Hertha Berlin tried to slow the tempo whenever they had the football, but they continuously find themselves caught out by Dortmund’s high-energy pressing.
However, it’s not like Hertha Berlin were going to let the first half end with them a goal down. Ondrej Duda fired a beautiful curling shot that just flew wide of the right post in the 40th minute. One minute later, Salomon Kalou chested a ball down and scored against the run of play to end the first half on equal footing.
Borussia Dortmund came out of the tunnel to start the second half with the same amount of attacking fervour. However, Vladimir Darida almost swept the rug when his cross almost set up Kalou for a double. The Ivorian midfielder wasn’t able to keep the ball down, though.
Hertha Berlin continued making piercing attacks to start the reset, but the BVB eventually found their groove as the half wore on. Mahmoud Dahoud, Raphael Guerreiro, Hakimi and Gotze were connecting well and were playing great football on the left.
Dortmund eventually retook the lead when Captain Reus pulled off a brilliant individual play. A steady buildup on the left ended up with Reus right in front of Rune Jarstein. He powered a low shot that got through the Danish stopper, but the ball was drifting slowly towards the net. Sancho got his brace by ensuring that the ball gets into the net, but he immediately ran to his captain in celebration.
Guerreiro was almost able to make it 3-1 in the 78th minute, but his shot was stopped by Jarstein. Jacob Brunn Larsen also missed a prime opportunity to score. Hertha Berlin began to threaten a comeback in the game’s dying embers with threatening crosses. David Selke almost equalised in the 88th minute when he fired a close header, but Burki pulled off a fantastic save.
Berlin had a chance to equalise when Selke was brought down by Dan-Axel Zagadou in the last minute of regulation. Kalou took the spot kick and equalised in extra time. Christian Pulisic tried to convert a late winner, but it was too little, too late.
Pal Dardai and the Blue-Whites celebrated for a battling performance. Meanwhile, Zagadou and the rest of the BVB are left wondering with what could have been.
Key statistics
There’s no question that Hertha Berlin mugged Borussia Dortmund of the three points. They had 58% of the ball, made 19 goal attempts, had 18 free kicks and eight corners. They forced their opposing keeper to make three saves and the defence to commit 15 fouls.
If there’s one thing the BVB fans can take away from this game is that they are spoiled with two exciting young wingers in Sancho and Pulisic. Sancho scored his first professional brace in this game, and that is welcome Bundesliga 2018 news for England fans. The 18-year-old now has four goals and six assists in three starts and six substitute appearances.
What’s next?
Bayern Munich are slowly creeping back to the top spot after a dominant display against Mainz. Outright Bundesliga 2018 odds at SBOBET still favour the Bavarians to defend their title. However, Dortmund can turn this around by beating Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena. They have to beat Union Berlin in the DFB Pokal first, though.
Meanwhile, Hertha Berlin will take the momentum of this result forward as they try to take down Darmstadt in the DFB Pokal and Leipzig in the league.
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