Shaky defence, lack of consistency – for Borussia Dortmund the longing for the championship title remains unfulfilled. With the clear 2: 5 (1: 3) against table neighbors Leverkusen, the table second in the Bundesliga should have finally lost the minimal chance of the championship trophy. After three encouraging victories in a row, BVB failed again on Sunday due to their chronic weakness in defense and are now almost unassailable nine points behind Bayern.
An own goal by Manuel Akanji (10′) and further goals by Florian Wirtz (20′), Robert Andrich (28′), Jonathan Tah (53′) and Moussa Diaby (87′) sealed the win in front of 10,000 spectators at Signal Iduna Park the second home defeat of Borussia. The equalizer from Jeremie Frimpong’s own goal (16′) and the late goal from Steffen Tigges (90′) couldn’t change that. On the other hand, Leverkusen consolidated their third place in the table and reduced the gap to BVB to five points.
As in previous duels, both teams offered a spectacle from the start with four goals in the first 28 minutes. Although BVB coach Marco Rose worked intensively with his team during the two-week break to improve the recently weak defensive work, Borussia’s defense was shockingly unstable.
The first goal against was like a slapstick insert. Dan-Axel Zagadou, who came on for defense chief Mats Hummels, made a major mistake and played to Bayer striker Patrik Schick in his own penalty area. BVB keeper Gregor Kobel was able to parry his shot from close range, but deflected the ball into the legs of Manuel Akanji, who put the ball into his own net. Borussia’s reaction was not long in coming.
After Julian Brandt’s free-kick, Bayer defender Frimpong headed in the second own goal within six minutes. However, this equalizer did not give BVB any new security. Instead, the Leverkusen played their counterattack strength. Wirtz completed an exemplary attack from close range to lead the guests again. When Andrich shot a free kick from 18 meters straight into the goal corner a little later, Borussia’s false start was perfect.
Visibly dismayed, the Dortmund team tried to minimize the damage, but had little effect. Without top scorer Erling Haaland, the offensive game lacked penetrating power. So the guests were closer to the fourth goal before the break than Borussia was to the goal. But the many counterattacks were not consistently played to the end.
Shortly after the restart, however, Leverkusen rewarded themselves for their splendid performance and ensured the early preliminary decision. Tah’s brilliant volley after a corner by Kerem Demirbay under the crossbar of the opposing goal robbed Borussia of any hope of a turnaround. So it was not difficult for the guests to get the comfortable lead over time. The only positive aspect for Dortmund was the comeback of Giovanni Reyna, who came on in the 61st minute after a five-month injury break.