Borussia Dortmund extended their lead over Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga with a draw against Eintracht Frankfurt. While it wasn’t a great performance, it was enough to bring a point out of one of the most difficult playing environments in Germany. Here are our match ratings:

Manager

Lucien Favre: 5

Favre fielded what should have been a starting XI. While Dortmund created many good chances in the first 30 minutes, Frankfurt gradually played their way back into the game. Favre had pretty much no response to Adi Hütter’s pressing system, in which his front three kept pressure on Dortmund’s center backs and pushed the ball outside, where Frankfurt’s wing backs were successful in closing the ball down. The fact that Achraf Hakimi and Lukasz Piszczek had the most touches of any BVB players indicates how much this tactic was successful.

Starting XI

Roman Bürki: 8

Bürki was excellent once again. He had no chance to stop Luka Jović’s lone goal, and made several key saves that kept Frankfurt from taking the lead, most notably a one-on-one with Ante Rebić.

Achraf Hakimi: 5

This was not Hakimi’s best match. He was adequate on defense outside of a few turnovers, but he also was wasteful going forward.

Julian Weigl: 7

Weigl was solid again, proving that he’s more than capable of filling in for Manuel Akanji at CB. His defensive stats were good, with 4 tackles, 3 interceptions, and a team-high 9 clearances. His passing was also solid, with a 93% completion rate.

Abdou Diallo: 7

Diallo’s passing wasn’t as consistent as Weigl’s, but he did have several more effective long-balls that created scoring chances. Diallo and Weigl both did a solid job holding back Eintracht Frankfurt’s front three.

Lukasz Piszczek: 7

Piszczek was yet again a defensive anchor, although he was caught out of possession a few times by Ante Rebić. He almost set up a goal for Paco Alcacer in the 66th minute, but unfortunately the shot was saved by Kevin Trapp.

Axel Witsel: 6

While Witsel had some solid moments on defense, and contributed to the buildup of Marco Reus’s goal, but unfortunately he was mostly snuffed out after the thirty minute mark.

Thomas Delaney: 6

While Thomas Delaney’s defensive performance was characteristically superb, with lots of tackles and interceptions, he and the rest of Dortmund’s midfield ultimately capitulated the center of the pitch and allowed Frankfurt to control the tempo of the game. He also picked up a yellow card, his fifth of the season, which means he’ll miss next week’s match against Hoffenheim.

Marco Reus: 6

While he did notch Dortmund’s only goal, he could have, and probably should have, had more. Shortly after his goal, he had a great chance to beat Kevin Trapp one-on-one, but he sent a dribbling shot wide. He also struck the woodwork, and had a clear shot inside the 18-yard box off of a set-piece routine.

Jadon Sancho: 6

Sancho had a performance reminiscent of Emre-Mor. While he beat some defenders one-on-one, he was ultimately unable to create anything meaningful out of any of those moments.

Raphael Guerreiro: 7

Guerreiro almost single-handedly set up Marco Reus’s goal, cutting through defenders like a Portuguese Lionel Messi. As has happened often with Raphael Guerreiro, he disappeared a bit after a strong start, and eventually needed to come off for Jacob Bruun Larsen.

Paco Alcacer: 6

While he didn’t score, Paco did create some decent chances, most notably a shot in the 66th minute that forced a decent save from Kevin Trapp. He also took a fantastic free kick in the 85th minute that almost found the top corner.

Substitutes

Christian Pulisic: 5

Pulisic played for 23 minutes, which should have been enough time to create something. Unfortunately, he was mostly held down by Frankfurt’s defense, with Filip Kostic and Evan Ndicka keeping their left side locked down.

Jacob Bruun-Larsen: 5

JBL came in at the 80-minute mark, and much like Pulisic, had a difficult time creating anything.

Mario Götze: N/A

Götze only played for four minutes, not enough time to merit a rating.

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