After going winless in their last three, Borussia Dortmund finally broke through with a win yesterday, when they beat FC Köln in a relatively suspenseful and entertaining 3-2 victory. Here are our match ratings:

Manager

Peter Stöger: 7

In terms of squad selection and substitutes, Peter Stöger did about everything right. Jaden Sancho got some rest, and starting André Schürrle turned out to be a very rewarding move. BVB still have plenty of defensive instabilities, though, as demonstrated by Köln’s two goals.

Starting XI

Roman Bürki: 3

Looked unconfident and indecisive the entire match. He should have caught the initial shot on the first goal, and should have come out and punched the ball on the second goal.

Lukasz Piszczek: 5

Kept Köln’s left wing in check for most of the game.

Omer Toprak: 5

Made some strong defensive plays, and was at fault for neither goal.

Sokratis: 7

Used his iron noggin’ to stop a screamer that seemed destined for the top corner in the final minutes of the match. Was strong all game, too.

Jeremy Toljan: 7

He assisted Batshuayi’s first goal, and would have assisted a second if it weren’t for a VAR review. He still looks a little shaky.

Julian Weigl: 7

He showed why he’s so important to this squad’s success. He continuously kept the ball moving forward, and made some decent defensive tackles as well.

Mahmoud Dahoud: 4

I was excited that he was picked in the squad. Unfortunately, he looked rather poor on the pitch. This was a match in which Dortmund really should have dominated. Instead, Dahoud turned the ball over too many times, and allowed Köln to maintain possession at key points of the match.

Shinji Kagawa: 6

Shinji was unable to contribute directly to a goal, but he looked dangerous when attacking, and was Dortmund’s most effective midfielder going forward.

Christian Pulisic: 5

For the first time in his career, Christian Pulisic is struggling. He hasn’t found the scoresheet in a while, and he looks frustrated on the pitch. He managed to slip in Batshuayi for an assist, but he looked out of sorts for the rest of the match.

André Schürrle: 7

He was wasteful, created nothing going forward, needs to be moved over the summ-

**taps earpiece**

Wait, he scored? Really? The winning goal? And looked good throughout the match?

Well, I’ll be damned.

Michy Batshuayi: 9

Substitutes

Jaden Sancho: NR

Suffered an injury after playing only a couple minutes.

Raphael Guerreiro: 6

He came on for Dahoud, and was a noticeable, if not unremarkable, improvement. He did a good job soaking up seconds by maintaining the ball in the dying seconds of the match.

Manuel Akanji: NR

Only came on in the 88th minute as an extra defender.

Your Thoughts

What did you think of this match? Leave your thoughts below.