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It was an interesting match up. All our writers thought we would blow out Ingolstadt and be dominant through the entire game. Funnily enough, that really wasn’t the case. The newly brought up Ingolstadt managed to keep our lads at bay. We started the game with an interesting lineup. With Reus and Guendogan out due to a Virus, Castro and Park watching the game from the bench, Durm, Ginter, Kagawa and Ramos (first team start this season) were chosen to start the game.
Throughout the first half Dortmund had several chances that we failed to convert, yet again. (Hint for TT: Maybe focus on that in Mondays training) Ingolstadts high press made it hard for us to get our attacking juices flowing, resulting in constant breakdowns and dispossessions. Our team lacked clear structure without Guendogan and Reus. Ingolstadt's most dangerous attack was in the 29th minute with their keeper Özcan bolting the ball forward, past our defense and into the feet of Lezcano who lobs Buerki, outwits Hummel and almost scores if it hadn’t been for Piszczek risking his face by heading the ball of the attacker’s boot.
The second half saw little change. After ten minutes TT subbed out Weigl and Kagawa for Leitner and Castro. The biggest chance for Ingolstadt came as Hummels forgot whose team he was playing for. Trying to outplay their attacker he lobs the ball back to Buerki, who was standing in no man's land, allowing the ball to sail over his head. Interestingly, Hummels claims he was fouled by their attacker, protesting the goal. The ref agreed with him, which was obviously an incorrect call. Most notably, Pulisic celebrated his Bundesliga debut with some beautiful attacking skills and vital passes. The first goal of the game fell ten minutes later in the 77th minute with a cross from Piszczek finding Aubameyang's head. Replayed showed that Aubameyang could have been offside, but it would have been impossible for the linesman to have made that call. The game finished with Castro playing a through ball to the African player of the year who, with a calm foot, played the ball into the bottom right corner past the goalkeeper.
It was an interesting and chaotic game to watch. We were messy at times, but also structured. Will be interesting to see what the next game against Hertha holds in store.