Somehow it was logical that Sébastian Haller and Giovanni Reyna couldn’t stop celebrating after the end of the game. They’d both come on as a substitute after 62 minutes, then turned a broken game in injury time, so that joy had to be savored a little longer side by side. Especially since the jokers, which were decisive for Dortmund, had recently gone through difficult times in the 2-1 (1-1) win in Mainz.
The American Reyna, who was already successful against Augsburg (4: 3), had to work through a serious quarrel with national coach Gregg Berhalter from the World Cup in Qatar. It was known to be much worse for the Ivorian Haller because testicular cancer put him out of action. Now the second brief assignment was enough for him to act as a difference player. After a corner kicked by Julian Brandt, Haller just extended the ball, which Reyna pushed over the line at the far post (90+2).
“These are the most emotional victories,” said national player Brandt. “We are currently realizing that we have to earn the wins 90 minutes plus X, even if it doesn’t always look nice.” His special praise went to the pioneer with the number nine: “With ‘Seb’ you always talk about his tumor and not about the fact that he makes us better,” Brandt pointed out.
“Of course we are very happy with the result,” said BVB coach Edin Terzic
After a deceptive lightning start, with goals from Jae-Sung Lee (2nd) and Julian Ryerson (4th) raising long-vain hopes of good evening entertainment, the visitors had the better end for themselves. “Of course we’re very happy with the result,” said BVB coach Edin Terzic, “even though we know we still have a lot of work ahead of us.” However, it is no coincidence “that we are the team with the most set-piece goals”. Haller’s first goal involvement was also not accidental after a popular variant. “It’s completely logical that he’s not at 100 percent. But every minute helps him – and he has a presence that’s just good for us.”
The hard-fought and somehow also happy successes in 2023 serve as encouragement for a long way in the new year, which should at least lead back to the premier class for the black and yellow. However, defender Niklas Süle, who is in charge of the captain’s armband, would have nothing against the five-point gap to FC Bayern being reduced. The basis for this was laid after the end of the first half of the season, explained the much-criticized World Cup participant: “We didn’t twiddle our thumbs in the training camp in Marbella. We want to get into a whirlpool, win games and no longer give gifts.”
The encounter against “disgusting Mainzers”, as Süle called them, had got off to a bad start: the usual carnival songs had hardly been sung when the 05ers got off to a very atmospheric start. The first corner was enough to head the 1:0 through the midfielder Lee, who was only 1.81 meters tall. However, Julian Ryerson, who was assigned to him in this scene, successfully tried to make amends in return: the right-back signed by Union Berlin took off with his left foot after a courageous solo run in front of the edge of the penalty area – then Edimilson Fernandes helped the ball to make it 1-1 unattainable for the Mainz substitute keeper Finn Dahmen deflected. However, the chance increase at the break could not hide the fact that Dortmund took a few breaks and rarely found solutions in the last third.
“It’s certainly extremely unfortunate for us – and undeserved at best,” said Mainz sporting director Martin Schmidt. “It’s tough for our team.” The Swiss recommended that the team “take the positives with you a day or two apart.” However, he did not hide the fact that the home team had played much too carefully, especially in the first half. With the half-time balance of 20 points, a minimum goal has been achieved, but in the home game against VfL Bochum it is now “not allowed to lose” – otherwise Mainz will be involved in the relegation battle faster than they would like.