Borussia Mönchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund played out a 1-1 draw at Borussia Park on Saturday evening.
Not a lot to write home about in the first half. Dortmund had the best open-play chance of the half early on when Jamie Gittens squared the ball only for Marcel Sabitzer’s effort to just miss the post. The biggest talking point however will be whether Gladbach should have been awarded a penalty when a shot from Rocco Reitz was deflected towards the goal by Serhou Guirassy’s hand, after a lengthy check, the penalty was not given.
The second half was more lively and produced our first goal of the game when Jamie Gittens received the ball from Nico Schlotterbeck, cut in onto his right foot and fired past Mortiz Nicolas while hitting the crossbar on the way in. However, Dortmund would not hold their lead for long as Gladbach would this time win a penalty when Pascal Groß held onto Tim Kleindienst. Kevin Stöger would then convert the resultant spot kick. Gladbach would then have a great chance to take the lead when substitute Robin Hack hit the crossbar but away from that, Dortmund had the majority of possession as they looked for a win, but were unable to get one even with Gladbach going down to 10 men late on.
Dortmund will feel like they may have deserved a win with the amount of chances but were unable to convert them. While on the other hand, Gladbach could also feel they may have been hard done by the potential first-half non-penalty call.
Takeaways:
Jamie Gittens once again showed that at the moment, he is the guy for Dortmund. This is the fourth game in a row that he has scored in and Gladbach paid him the ultimate compliment by the fact he was double-teamed every time he was on the ball in the final third.
Gladbach’s issue is the “Kevin Stöger problem”. There is no doubting how good the Austrian is, but after a positive start to the season, Stöger has struggled being out of the team, and that showed today where his usual creative energy was not flowing. Head coach Gerardo Seoane will have to find a way to fit Stöger into the team, not ruin the chemistry and get the best out of everyone.
Player Ratings:
Borussia Mönchengladbach:
Mortiz Nicolas (6), Joe Scally (6), Nico Elvedi (5), Ko Itakura (5), Lukas Ullrich (6), Julian Weigl (5), Rocco Reitz (6), Franck Honorat (6), Alassane Plea (5), Kevin Stöger (6), Tim Kleindienst (5)
Others: Robin Hsck (5), Philipp Sander (5), Nathan Ngoumou (-), Tomas Cvancara (-), Marvin Friedrich (-)
Borussia Dortmund:
Gregor Kobel (6), Julian Ryerson (5), Niklas Süle (5), Nico Schlotterbeck (7), Ramy Bensebaini (5), Felix Nmecha (5), Pascal Groß (5), Maximilian Beier (5), Marcel Sabitzer (5), Jamie Gittens (7), Serhou Guirassy (5)
Others: Donyell Malen (5), Giovanni Reyna (5), Emre Can (-)
GGFN Man of the Match: Nico Schlotterbeck (7)
Jamie Gittens obviously deserves his plaudits for his goal, but Nico Schlotterbeck was once again a rock at the back. Not only did he provide the assist for Gittens’ goal but he was also able to keep Tim Kleindienst, who had been on a run of good form, quiet all game. The 25-year-old also created the most chances in the whole game and won the most duels.
The performance shows that Schlotterbeck is now not only the captain of the team but also the leader of Dortmund’s defence and can command the backline like his predecessor Mats Hummels.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
