Match Reactions: Marco Reus Praises Team Effort, Zorc Praises Delaney

Borussia Dortmund won an admittedly cagey match against Hoffenheim yesterday, with a second-half goal from Marco Reus leading BVB to a 1-0 victory. While it wasn’t pretty, it was Dortmund’s first win at Hoffenheim in eight years, and it was enough for three points. Most importantly, BVB can now go into the midweek Champions League match against Lazio with a victory.

Marco Reus came off the bench in the second half and proved to be a difference maker, scoring the lone goal into an empty net after a defensive breakdown by Hoffenheim. He offered his thoughts in a post-match interview with Sky:

We’ve found it very difficult [at Hoffenheim] in recent years. In the second half, it was important for us to create more opportunities and be more determined on the attack. We are happy that we started the upcoming English weeks with a win.

BVB Sporting Director Michael Zorc was also happy with the result, although he thought that BVB probably should have had a few more goals. He was especially praiseworthy of Thomas Delaney, who had to shoehorn himself into the back line after Lukasz Piszczek was subbed off with an eye injury.

We deservedly won the game. We had to replace Lukasz Piszczek early on, but Thomas Delaney did an outstanding job in central defense. With the substitution of Marco Reus and Erling Haaland, we received another offensive push and created scoring opportunities.

It does appear that BVB’s substitutes were the difference makers yesterday. Dortmund and Hoffenheim were about even on expected goals until Marco’s goal. After he scored, BVB began to hit their stride against a more opened-up Hoffenheim, and the chances began to pile up.

BVB will next face Lazio on Tuesday at 3 pm. Having heavily rotated this weekend, we can expect close to a full-strength squad against the Italians.