Borussia Dortmund used the help of their Ruhrpott neighbors VfL Bochum and closed the gap to leaders Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga. 24 hours after Bochum’s coup against the record champions – and above all: exactly one week after their own 5-2 fiasco against Bayer Leverkusen – BVB took the Union Berlin home base, which was considered almost impregnable. With a largely unchallenged 3-0 (2-0) victory at the Alte Försterei, Dortmund consolidated their status as a sure Champions League aspirant, the distance to Bayern reduced from nine to six points. The Köpenickers, on the other hand, slipped from fourth to sixth place in the table – after a duel between two teams who were widowed in different ways.
1. FC Union surprisingly lost their director Max Kruse to VfL Wolfsburg during the winter break (and pocketed good money for it); Borussia Dortmund started without top scorer Erling Haaland, who was “only” absent due to muscular problems. And: Both teams had in common that they had suffered defeats in the previous week. However, after their 2: 5, Dortmund were in a much more urgent form under the obligation to make amends. And they fulfilled this duty without haste.
Goalkeeper Luthe crawls after Reus – with no chance of success
“Now it’s important that we also enjoy the win. That we were able to let out all the frustration that we built up in the last game and during the week,” said Dortmund captain Marco Reus. But he didn’t want to target Bayern and the championship. In the TV interview with Dazn, he almost begged the moderator to skip the title topic. “Don’t ask the question anymore,” he said, adding later: “Unless we become more consistent, that’s not an issue anyway.”
Dortmund met the deep defensive block of the Union with basic trust in the tear strength of the net that they tied with their passes in the first quarter of an hour. This gave BVB control over the game, which also turned into momentum at the first opportunity.
In the 18th minute, the Dortmunders scuttled their way into the Berlin penalty area with short passes. In the end, Mo Dahoud put the ball through to Reus, who overcame Union goalkeeper Andreas Luthe from close range – 1:0. The modus operandi of the goal to make it 2-0 just seven minutes later could hardly have been more different. Dortmund lured the Unioners out of cover until defender Dan-Axel Zagadou started a long pass to fast attacker Donyell Malen. The Dutchman left defender Robin Knoche behind and went down in a duel with Bastian Oczipka. But the ball landed in front of Reus’ sometimes brilliant feet. This time he body-fooled Luthe to the ground. The Union keeper crawled after the national player, but without any chance of success. Reus pushed in (25th).
Even after that, Dortmund did not lack seriousness. After Dahoud drew a lot of critical looks against Leverkusen as the sole defensive six in midfield, this time he held the center together with Axel Witsel. Union lacked creativity and therefore danger. It was only after a good half hour that a player from the home team appeared in front of Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. After Kruse substitute Sven Michel had passed the ball in the penalty area with his chest to the left winger Oczipka, the latter failed because of the quick-witted Kobel throwing himself in the way.
After the break, Dortmund seemed to be losing control of the An der Alten Försterei stadium for the first time. The Unioner pushed with some verve, but without developing clear ideas. Again, the first dangerous scene in front of the Berlin goal led to a goal. Jude Bellingham played his way to the baseline and put the ball in the six yard box to Mal, who only managed to shoot Luthe. However, Raphaël Guerreiro scored the rebound in the goal (3:0/71st).
Then there was excitement over a goal for the hosts, which was conceded by the video referee. Before a header that substitute Kevin Möhwald sank into the goal, Anthony Ujah hit his opponent Akanji with his arm in the face. It was an overly harsh and bureaucratic decision that ruled out another crazy finish.