9 points ahead for Bavaria
Nine points! Borussia Dortmund goes into the winter break of the Bundesliga with a deficit that can hardly be made up for Bayern. BVB, who traveled to Berlin with personnel problems, received their fifth defeat of the season at 2: 3 (1: 1) at Hertha BSC on Saturday evening. The Munich championship leader is far behind. Dortmund’s Hertha expert Julian Brandt (31st minute) brought his team in front of 5000 spectators, but Ishak Belfodil (51st) and double packer Marco Richter (57th and 69th) turned the game. The subsequent goal by substitute Steffen Tigges (83rd) didn’t change anything for BVB.
The Berliners celebrated an enormously important victory in the fight against relegation. Instead of at least threateningly close to the relegation place, Hertha spends the winter break in eleventh place.
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The last BVB game of the year was not one of the best omens for Rose even before the kick-off. The coach had to do without goalkeeper Gregor Kobel and defense chief Mats Hummels, who were absent with a cold, at short notice. “But I think we still have a very good team on the pitch,” Rose said shortly before the kick-off on “Sky”. Kobel’s deputy Marwin Hitz had to defuse a shot from Jurgen Ekkelenkamp right from the start (6th).
BVB determined the first minutes of the game, Marco Reus missed good chances to take the lead early on (11th and 13th). In defense, Dortmund was always vulnerable. Hertha even supposedly took the lead, but referee Marco Fritz did not give Myziane Maolida the goal because of a previous, narrow offside position (15th).
The hosts, who wanted to forget the desolate 4-0 during the week at FSV Mainz 05, always played quite bravely in the direction of the BVB penalty area – they had to. The prospect of being able to keep Reus, Erling Haaland and Co. out of their own penalty area only with defensive work was slim. “If you only concentrate on him, there are enough others around who use it,” said coach Tayfun Korkut, referring to star striker Haaland. And he was right.
Via Haaland, who himself did not shoot on goal in the first half, the ball reached Brandt, who stormed into the penalty area in the 31st minute and scored his seventh Bundesliga goal against Hertha. The national player has not been so successful against any other club, and it was his sixth goal participation in five games. Around 150 Dortmund fans cheered in the guest block.
The Berliners also tried at the beginning of the second half to put the newly formed BVB defense under pressure – and rewarded themselves. Belfodil was well served by Vladimir Darida with a strong pass, the 29-year-old prevailed in the running duel against Axel Witsel, who had moved into central defense, and was successful with a low shot. In the midst of Dortmund’s uncertainty, judges from the edge of the penalty area also met – Haaland stunned the cheering Berliners.
BVB then did not resist stubbornly enough, Mahmoud Dahoud initially had no luck with his attempt (65th). Very different from Richter, who scored his fifth goal of the season with a solid left-footed shot. Tigges headed the 2: 3 just two minutes after being substituted on, but it wasn’t enough for more.
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