Make it Six: Borussia Dortmund vs SV Darmstadt Match Recap

I tend not to mind it when clubs sit back. I enjoy watching Atlético Madrid more than a lot of people. Even my favorite hockey team is the colloquial “boring team” of the NHL.

Darmstadt though? My word. I’m sure the people of Darmstadt are lovely people, and I’m sure it’s a beautiful place, but how on earth could anybody root for that club? It’s one thing when sides sit back and commit men to the counter. It’s a different game altogether when the plan is to sit back and... and do nothing else. Just sit back. 0-0, that’s the game plan. Darmstadt had 0 shots on target in the first half and 20% possession. Yes, Dortmund dominated them, but it’s not as if they were running a high press and just getting beaten... this was 10 men behind the ball all the time. No wonder they didn’t score!

Enough about that, though. After a devastating 1-0 loss to Leipzig and a much less disappointing 6-0 victory against Legia Warsaw, the Black and Yellows sought to regain momentum in the Bundesliga. The lineup that Thomas Tuchel rolled out was hardly our first squad, but it didn’t matter. BVB completely dominated from beginning to end.

Just seven minutes in Dortmund struck first with a great team goal. Passlack made a great run along the right side to get the play started. Weigl made a perfect long pass to find Guerreiro at the edge of the box, who got around the defender and hit Ramos with a pass, who collected and calmly sprayed out a perfect ball to a cutting Dembélé, who hit a low cross into the box that found Castro.

For the rest of the first half, Dortmund dominated possession but couldn’t score, despite multiple chances from set pieces. Guerreiro, Castro, and Weigl played fantastic, way better than last week against Leipzig. Our midfield utterly dominated today, snuffing out any chance at possession that Darmstadt could muster. The lillies were lucky to escape the half down only one goal, but they looked like if they could just muster one chance, they could maybe get a point.

Instead, Dortmund came out and scored two goals in 9 minutes, picking apart any Darmstadt attempts to move forward. A Niemeyer red card made it all but final, and Dortmund scored thrice more en route to a convincing 6-0 victory. Emre Mor made his Bundesliga debut and notched his first Mor Tor™, Sebastian Rode notched his first for Dortmund. Adrian Ramos, who had a great match, scored as well.

Oh... did I mention that Pulisic scored???

Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

What a great team win! Our next match will be against Wolfsburg this coming Tuesday. It won’t be anywhere as easy as it was today, but I’m confident that Tuchel’s men can get the job done. Let’s keep this momentum going!