Dortmund put forward their best performance of the season as they upstage Leipzig at home #2392
Dortmund 2 Leipzig 1FT
Singel Idunna Park
On Saturday evening It is the Bundesliga match of the weekend. Title contenders Leipzig meet under the lights against Dortmund. We’re here in Dortmund as Dortmund where football around here is very much the culture and the attention of the city. Dortmund is the home to Westfalenpark a famous park of beautiful scenery an expensive park, a tourist destination, and a beautiful green forest in this region of Germany. Along with the Dortmund Zoo with so many different animals. The perfect way to spend an afternoon, the Florian Tower which overlooks the entire city. It may not be the most touristy city in Germany, but the city still has plenty to offer outside of the football. Dortmund is famous for being Europe’s densest cultural landscape with 1,000 industrial monuments, 200 museums, 250 festivals, 120 theatres, and three musical theatres. Then on top of all that a very famous football in town with the German football museum not far away. It is also the home to Dortmund and Schalke. If you were to ask the locals, they would say, that the best part of Dortmund is where we are today: the historic Signal Iduna Park and the famous Yellow Wall. Dortmund have heavily underwhelmed their expectations this season. So much pressure already on the manager with the amount of money they spent and the acquisitions they've brought in It's gone exactly the opposite of how they foresaw this Dortmund side. At the moment they're reeling off of a very difficult loss against Augsburg and then were beaten in the cup against Wolfsburg. Patience is wearing thin on Nuri Sahin As it feels he only has a few more games to figure out this equation at Dortmund that most of us can see clearly. The sporting director came out in support of the Turkish manager, however, He is on borrowed time If he's unable to get the results, a massive opportunity to flip this Dortmund season back in the right direction as joint top-of-the-table Leipzig comes to town. Ever since Marco Rose was sacked at Dortmund, he has beaten them all but once. Last season Leipzig beat Dortmund 5-2 if it wasn't for the Champions League success they had last season Dortmund would have missed out on the Champions League altogether. Leipzig are currently coming off. A very impressive victory against the Champions League. Hopefuls Freiburg last weekend. With a victory. They will strengthen their case as the threat to the Bundesliga title. They are unbeaten this season and are red hot at the moment. However, the yellow wall can be difficult to deal with as the visitors set up a great paradox between Dortmund and Leipzig, a must-win for Dortmund While a result for Leipzig will put them right there with Munich. Kickoff approaches in Dortmund on a chilly Saturday night.
Leipzig, despite being away from home was going to feel a sense of confidence that they can deal with. Dortmund. In the Bundesliga, they have been victorious in eight of their last 10 meetings. Nuri Sahin went heavy as he put Max Beier, Julian Brandt & Guirassy All in the same lineup. Perhaps he means business this time. In the 6th minute, Jamie Gittens makes a burst on the left side. Trying to create a little bit of space but his shot from inside hits a barricade as Leipzig managed to repossess. Dortmund continued to go after as they picked up a sense of momentum playing with a level of confidence and conviction that we haven't seen often from them this season. In the 10th minute, Jamie Gittens sent a ball into the box for Max Beier The former Hoffenheim Talent gets his head on the end of it coming very close. In the end. In the 14th minute, Julian Brandt showed his playmaking ability as he dumped the ball off as Jamie Gittens leveled one from outside the box Péter Gulácsi came up with the save. It continues to be Dortmund's running point. It seemed as if perhaps the manager had finally figured out the math problem that to the rest of us seemed simple. In the 16th minute Max Beier Is at the center of it again He sends a pass for Ramy Bensebaini But unfortunately is too trigger-happy on the strike from a distance. Everything was going Dortmund's way. Just as we were approaching the half-hour mark in the 27th minute Openda sets up Benjamin Sesko from inside the box. The Slovenian International buries it in the roof of the net as Leipzig took a 1-0 lead. Dortmund had been sharp as an attack. However, it did turn out to be short-lived as Dortmund fired back immediately. In the 30th minute, Pascal Groß dropped across into the box Felix Nmecha got on the end of it. The deflection was put out for a corner. Pascal Groß drives the ball into play Felix Nmecha ends up getting an initial touch as falls into the space of Max Beier He swings his foot against the ball into the roof of the net and just like that in a blink of an eye, Dortmund hits back immediately. A very special young man who scored 17 in the league last season. This season has now proven his worth with an opening goal. In the 32nd minute, Leipzig tried to work it from outside Benjamin Henrichs saw his strike Leipzig found some difficulties getting any sort of comfort in front of the yellow wall. They have had success here before but this was a bit different. Slowly they were opening up though again they were at it in the 34th minute openda rips one from deep Gregory Kobel makes the necessary save. Still putting the pressure on Leipzig. Still putting the pressure on Leipzig. Dortmund respond as they win themselves a free kick in the 36th minute It is sent in Pascal Groß gets his footing on it before Ramy Bensebaini attempts to direct it into the corner. His timing is a little off as it remains level. In the 41st minute, Leipzig's two-headed monster looked to put themselves back in front. Lois Openda bursts as he takes a strike from the left side. It deflects off before Benjamin Sesko blasts it from a distance. This one was nowhere near the first half. Comes to a close with Leipzig and Dortmund holding a goal a piece.
A truly outstanding first half from Dortmund. This is the best they have played all season. They go behind just due to Leipzig's individual quality battle back and they have provided most of the chances thus far. Julian Brandt, Max Beier, and Guirassy Are playing together. Even though the big man up front has been rather quiet, it seems Dortmund are slowly figuring it out. As the second half began Dortmund picked up right Right where they left off. In the 49th minute, Dortmund had a triple chance. Julian Brandt takes a strike at it from a distance as it gets blocked. He repossesses it and then sends a cross into the box Nico Schlotterbeck's header is blocked. Jamie Gittens strikes on the follow-up but it was more of the same as Dortmund got very unlucky as Leipzig defended the scenario extremely well. In the 59th minute Serhou Guirassy puts forward a headed pass for Nico Schlotterbeck As he puts his laces through it Péter Gulácsi makes the fingertip save. However, Dortmund are knocking on the door. It seemed as if it was only a matter of time before it flowed off the hinges. The moment finally arrived for Dortmund in the 65th minute Max Beier sent a delivery as he connected with Serhou Guirassy putting his foot through it as he sends it into the back of the net Dortmund with a huge moment to take a 2-1 lead. They can play together perhaps Nuri Sahin has finally seen the light. Leipzig has the individual quality but hasn't had enough opportunities to turn water into wine The volume of chances has put a lot of pressure on them to capitalize when they have arrived. Dortmund has had the bulk of the opportunities putting an extra little bit of pressure on Leipzig over the late stages of this. In the 72nd minute Ramy Bensebaini sent through a cross to Julian Brandt He took a nice look on goal but it was denied by the keeper. He then came forward again Julian Brandt cut inside and tried to put it over the corner but it was stopped by the goalkeeper. However, Julian Brandt has been at the center of everything and because of it, Dortmund are seeing their best performance of the campaign. They nearly score again in the 74th minute Max Beier comes close on a counterattack but just mismanages his touch in the end. Dortmund are at their throats. They kept themselves in the driver's seat but Leipzig had one last chance of it at the end and in the 93rd minute Eljif Elmas takes a good touch from Kevin Kampel It takes a slight deflection and grazes near the corner. The full-time whistle goes Dortmund. Finally, get the better of RB Leipzig in what was a masterful display from those in black and yellow.
That was utterly flawless from Dortmund. The best performance of the entire season and it's not even a little close. It has been a very underwhelming and disappointing season. The identity of the side has been the big problem and the manager's lack of awareness To put the right things in place. Nuri Sahin arrived in the summer. It seemed like a strange appointment. However, the 37-year-old took over a former Dortmund player. Given what was brought to Dortmund in the summer and the pieces they put together, it seemed like he would get off to the races. However, the Turkish manager has lost five matches in his first 13 games. That may not seem like a ton, but Dortmund have been flying well under what they're capable of. To add to that he has been under immense pressure especially recently with the amount of poor performances we have seen from them. Dortmund won match. They had no business winning. They have looked sloppy in nearly every performance. I have been very critical of him and I declared recently. I believe he is unborrowed time. What he did Saturday night may have restored the faith in him. The difficult thing about the pressure that he's going to face is he's going to be judged in comparison to Julian Schuster's Freiburg. A manager with no experience less money, fewer resources, and a worse team that looks destined to be a Champions League side this season. Dortmand's new boss. The biggest issue they've had was Brandt and mishandling. His best player operating the team through Julian Brandt is why they were in a title race and it is why they made the Champions League final. Through the middle, he is the most gifted technically skilled player in this team. They then have the two attackers they brought in Max Beier and Guirassy The reason they have faltered is because he has not figured out a way to play them together. He had a change in mind perhaps Saturday He had a different thought and finally put it together. He figured out the mathematics. Saturday night he operated the team through Julian Brandt. He was sensational for the vast majority of the game. He started Max Beier out wide and Guirassy Upfront. Mad Max had an assist and a goal. Guirassy continued his excellent goalscoring form with Dortmund and got an assist from Mad Max. All three of those pieces sort of like a diamond operated a high level and showed the quality. They are not the only ones who performed but figuring it out. That is a huge reason why they played so well. Dortmund will have to continue to build on this. They are now within points of potentially being where they want to be. However, this can't be the end. There has to be the very beginning. They need to continue to mentally and tactically do what they did Saturday night. Leipzig finally got eaten by Dortmund after being on the winning end on so many occasions recently. They didn't play poorly but they didn't create enough. The attacking pieces did show up and they even opened up the scoring. However, they couldn't consistently grab the momentum they needed in the important moments. Even late on it looked like Dortmund was more likely to score a third goal. Then Leipzig was to get an equalizer. The situation hasn't changed. Leipzig still is a real threat to the throne. This was their first loss of the season but that said they have all the qualities to build off of this. Put this behind them and continue to perform. They were outclassed by an almost perfect Dortmund performance. It suffocated them. Aunt threw them off the track a little. However, the ambitions and the objectives of the team should not change. They are still very much in that conversation. They're only a few points off the top of the table and they still have shown their qualities this season. However, on Saturday night it was Dortmund that suffocated everything Leipzig did as they pulled off an incredibly impressive 2-1 victory in front of the yellow wall.
