Borussia Dortmund secured victory in a dramatic fashion against Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday when the pair met in the Bundesliga.
Substitute Erling Braut Haaland saved the day for Lucien Favre’s side, who looked certain to be settling for a draw prior to the winner.
Here are some talking points from the league game over the weekend
COMPACT DEFENSIVE UNIT
The first 45 minutes of the game saw Roman Burki do less in post with Dusseldorf hardly threatening the the Dortmund goalkeeper. The defence played out it duties quite well giving less room for the opponent. Mats Hummels was exceptional in the first-half completing almost all his passes and it was enough to see BVB keep yet another clean sheet in the Bundesliga.
NO URGENCY
Dortmund played with little determination for the most part of the game. Failure to find the back of the net in the opening 50 minutes saw the Black and Yellows playing with frustration. They lacked the ability to switch into pace when they were on the counter-attack, something which is uncharacteristic of the second-placed side. On a number of occasions, they played as if nothing was at stake despite a slim chance of winning the league ahead of Bayern Munich.
RUSTY IN FRONT OF GOAL
Achraf Hakimi and Julian Brandt had chances to put Dortmund ahead early in the first half but were not clinical enough to take advantage. Both found themselves in one-on-one situations but failed to convert with the Morocco international coming the closest to scoring. It was almost like failing twice on the same pitch as they lost this exact fixture last season, which ruined their chances of winning the Bundesliga.
NO CREATIVITY
A quiet day at the office for the likes of Jadon Sancho, Thorgan Hazard and Brandt who are tasked with creating chances for the team. The three players together just created one big chance, which is not good enough for a team which should be winning such matches with ease. However it took the individual brilliance from Manuel Akanji to create a room for Haaland to win the game for BVB.
