Dortmund 3-1 Eintracht Frankfurt: BVB turn it on in the second half

Dortmund struggled for 60 minutes but woke up late to secure the second victory of the season and stay perfect in the Signal Iduna Park.

Boring football part III

Lucien Favre changed his line-up compared to the lackluster Hannover game, Axel Witsel stayed on the bench and Jacob Bruun Larsen found his way into the starting line-up. This of course meant BVB changed from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 with Thomas Delaney and Mo Dahoud as the midfield pivot and Marco Reus moving to the “10” to make room for Bruun Larsen on the left wing.

However the changes didn’t yield immediate success, BVB did have control in midfield mostly because Dahoud showed a lot of improvement but the offense was still didn’t gel. JBL seemed nervous in his first start this season, Wolf once again didn’t do much of anything and Philipp disappointed out of position at striker. Even Reus wasn’t as formidable as usual.

Nevertheless Dortmund dominated possession and tried to isolate their wingers and put them in one-on-one situations through some quick combinations in midfield but some miscommunications and misplaced passes negated any promising attacks.

BVB still got the lead after a set piece, a seemingly newfound strength for the black and yellows. In the 36th minute Abdou Diallo was left alone in the box after a corner, Eintracht goalkeeper Trapp could save his initial header but the ball landed at Diallo’s feet and the Centerback had no problems converting the tap in. Dortmund took the lead to half time.

Finally some good football

The start of the second half wasn’t much better, BVB continued with a lot of possession but couldn’t create any chances. Frankfurt on the other hand tried to press a bit more but was not very successful, until the 68th minute.

Seemingly out of thin air Frankfurt equalized, Diallo tried to clear a ball after he won a duel against Eintracht striker Haller but his pass got deflected off of Schmelzer. This left da Costa on the wing completely alone with the ball and Dortmund’s entire defense out of position. Schmelzer couldn’t track back fast enough and Diallo moved out of the center of the defense, a fatal mistake. The French defender couldn’t prevent the cross from da Costa and left Haller alone in the box. Schmelzer once again got unlucky and deflected the cross to Haller who scored to tie up the game.

However it didn’t take Dortmund long to react. Paco Alcacer set up Jadon Sancho (both got subbed on shortly before) on the right wing, the 19-year-old dribbled past two players and crossed the ball across the box to Wolf. The ex-Frankfurt player controlled the ball with a great first touch and gave Dortmund the lead back just 4 minutes after the equalizer.

With Alcacer, Sancho and Witsel for Philipp, Bruun Larsen and Delaney Dortmund’s offense lloked a lot more threatening. Frankfurt tried to press high but BVB kept possession and didn’t let Eintracht create any more chances.

BVB sealed the win in the 88th minute, Sancho got the ball on the right side of the box passed it back to Alcacer who did this:

What a start to his BVB career. Dortmund now have 7 points after three games but still have question marks across the pitch. The defense, except for one very unlucky situation was once again solid but Dortmund haven’t found their rhythm on offense yet. Favre has things to work on but the good news is that he has the talent on the squad to succeed.

Other observations

• Alcacer and Sancho need to start from now on. Philipp looked lost at striker and Wolf, except for the goal, didn’t do much the entire game. In just 30 minutes Sancho created more chances than the rest of the team for the entire game.
• Jacob Bruun Larsen had to be subbed of because of an injury, it did not seem like a major issue but there are no updates on his status just yet.
• All three BVB goals have been scored by new players. Wolf even scored against his ex-team.
• BVB played with “Borussia verbindet” on their jerseys instead of Evonik to take a stand against racism.