No striker Erling Haaland, no captain Marco Reus – no points. With the unpleasant return of coach Marco Rose to Mönchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund’s latest winning streak came to an end. Without his two injured key players, BVB had to accept a bitter 0: 1 (0: 1) defeat at the old place of activity of Rose, who was received with whistles at Gladbacher Borussia, after four successes in a row.
In a heated atmosphere, Denis Zakaria (37th minute) ensured the hosts’ second win of the season in front of 25,000 spectators at Borussia-Park. BVB not only lost the dress rehearsal for the second group game in the Champions League on Tuesday against Benfica Lisbon, but also Mahmoud Dahoud. The former Gladbacher saw the yellow-red card in the 40th minute. The short-term failures of the actually indispensable core forces Haaland (muscular problems) and Reus (capsule irritation in the knee) required an extensive restructuring in the planned Dortmund starting eleven. So the only 16-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko stormed for Haaland, the place of Reus in the central attacking midfield took Dahoud. In addition, coach Rose switched to a three-way chain in defense.
Despite these changes, BVB got off to a better start and seemed close to an early lead when BVB substitute captain Mats Hummels (8th) scored an offside goal. Nevertheless, both teams struggled to create scoring chances. The Gladbachers, who could again count on the national player Jonas Hofmann, who had recovered from a muscle injury, lacked ideas, the guests lacked punch in the attack center.
The Gladbacher Elan is rewarded against Dortmund
The expected race game of the two actually strong teams with a lot of speed and goal area scenes did not develop at first. Only after 30 minutes did the game pick up speed because the Gladbachers now played more courageously and faster forward. And this drive was immediately rewarded. After an unfortunate defensive attempt by BVB talent Jude Bellingham, Zakaria was there with a shot from twelve meters and put his team in the lead.
The fact that director Dahoud saw yellow-red only three minutes later after his second foul and expressions of displeasure against referee Deniz Aytekin presented BVB with additional problems. The following attempts to seriously embarrass the Gladbach cover before the break were ineffective.
BVB coach Rose’s courageous decision to replace Thorgan Hazard as another attacker for defender Marin Pongracic during the break also did not pay off. The Gladbachers had the better chances with shots from Hofmann (55th) and Luca Netz (56th). On the other hand, for the harmless Dortmunders, it was mostly at the end of the penalty area at the latest. Especially newcomer Donyell Malen was disappointing. In the final minute, however, there was still a chance, Hazard narrowly failed with his head.