Match Ratings: Borussia Dortmund Progress Despite Poor Performance Against Hannover in DFB-Pokal

Borussia Dortmund qualified for the DFB-Pokal Round of 16 on Wednesday evening, after a somewhat fortunate 2-0 win against 2. Bundesliga side, Hannover 96. An own goal (largely of Youssoufa Moukoko’s creation) and a Jude Bellingham penalty saw BVB over the line, but the performance was less than convincing. Hannover peppered the Dortmund goal all throughout the game, especially in the first half, and only through a stellar performance in goal by Gregor Kobel did BVB keep a clean sheet.

Nonetheless, BVB are still in with a shot at winning the DFB-Pokal. The draw for the Round of 16 will take place on October 23rd, and there are still plenty of big hitters that Dortmund will be looking to avoid. Hopefully they put in a better performance against whoever they face in the next round.

Here are our ratings from Wednesday’s win:

Starting XI

Gregor Kobel

Paul: 8

Made so many really good saves throughout the game. The best of the saves came late in the second half, but BVB could have been up against it if it wasn’t for the multiple good saves he made in the first half.

Yash: 8.5

The very, very clear choice for MotM. Absolutely outstanding.

Anders: 9

This was Kobel’s result more than anything. Hannover had an xG of nearly 2.0, and I applaud our Swiss shotstopper for seemingly leaving the Union match behind him and facing everything that came his way. We could easily have been out of the cup without him.

Niklas Süle

Paul: 5

Yash: 5

We cannot afford to have him lead the defensive line at the moment. When he isn't paired with a more commanding centre-back, he looks utterly lost.

Anders: 5

It’s like Süle almost looks startled sometimes, and he was caught ball watching more than once yesterday. I think he was the issue more than Schlottigott for this particular match, but hopefully they will improve their partnership more and more as the season goes on.

Nico Schlotterbeck

Paul: 6

Yash: 6.5

This guy just cannot mark in set-piece situations, but is otherwise sound.

Anders: 6

Rapha Guerreiro

Paul: 6

Yash: 7

Created several chances and looked threatening going forward, but didn't really pull his weight defensively.

Anders: 6

Thomas Meunier

Paul: 5

Yash: 5

Get well soon!!

Anders: 5

Salih Özcan

Paul: 5

Yash: 4

Öz must be absolutely exhausted at the moment, and he showed his tired legs with yet another lacklustre performance.

Anders: 5

Got overrun just like his midfield partner. He’s beginning to show cracks after his stellar start at BVB, but I still trust him to be very important for us.

Emre Can

Paul: 4

Whiffed on multiple plays. Didn’t really impose himself on the game.

Yash: 4

Anders: 4

Got significantly overrun in the midfield. Would have been the perfect game for Dahoud, sadly.

Julian Brandt

Paul: 6

Yash: 6

Anders: 6

Dare I say, that Julian Brandt is currently one of our most consistent players? Jule did pretty decent, and he’s good at playing out of the press when things are clicking for him. I think his performance helped our team more than I initially realized.

Donyell Malen

Paul: 6

Didn’t get his goal but I thought his direct play was pretty useful for BVB in the first half. Tailed off significantly after that.

Yash: 5

Inconsistent. His off-the-ball movement was useful, but the decision-making and clinicality were lacking yet again.

Anders: 6

I’m still very much in doubt about whether Malen is just kinda bad or if he’s just really unlucky. He looked very good in the first half, but as Paul said, he left it at that.

Thorgan Hazard

Paul: 4

Yash: 5

A committed shift, but not much more.

Anders: 4

I hope JBG will soon return to the squad, because he’s honestly a better option than Hazard at this point.

Youssoufa Moukoko

Paul: 7

Very lively throughout the first half, even creating BVB’s first goal. He had a quieter second half, but still deserves credit for the good work he did.

Yash: 7

Hannover struggled to contain him for the first half. He looked a little isolated in the second, but a very good performance from Mouki.

Anders: 7

Substitutes

Jude Bellingham

Paul: 7

The pace of the game changed as soon as Jude came on, and Hannover no longer had the freedom to play the game they wanted.

Yash: 7

Anders: 7

Jude is very good at football. I feel like we’re entering a Haaland complex again, where we are relying too much on one particular player. Hopefully Terzic can sort this out.

Mats Hummels

Paul: 5

Yash: 6.5

Anders: 6

Our defense (once again) looked better as soon as Hummels stepped on to the field. I hope they’ll renew him, as he still has a lot to contribute with.

Gio Reyna

Paul: 7

The young subs came on and they all had a massive impact on the game. Reyna looked really good in his short stint off the bench. Hopefully he will soon be healthy enough to contribute as a starter.

Yash: 7

Anders: 7

Karim Adeyemi

Paul: 4

Okay, not all impacts are positive. He was on the pitch for about 15 minutes, and he got himself sent off on a rather stupid play. It could be argued that it was a necessary foul, but I think the coverage that Hummels and Schlotterbeck were offering, plus Kobel’s angle, meant that he didn’t have to make the tackle. He just needed to put more pressure on the player.

I would be more critical but it ultimately didn’t matter, so I’ll cut him some slack. Still, I think he needs to be a bit more careful in those moments.

Yash: N/A

Oh, well...

Anders: 6

I seem to be the only person in this entire world, who thinks Adeyemi’s foul was okay. He robbed Hannover from an almost certain clear cut chance at goal, and who knows how the match could have developed if Die Roten had managed to get one back.

Felix Passlack

N/A

Overall

Paul: 5

I don’t have strong views of this game. It wasn’t the best performance, and Hannover had too much of a say in a game that BVB really should have dominated. But they got the job done and without too much fuss. I’ll take it.

Yash: 5.5

It is never nice to come away from a game against a lower-ranked team with only our goalkeeper to thank, but here we are. I think we're going to have to accept that the rest of the Hinrunde is going to be a slog; we have an English week every week till the 11th of November, and the match overload is showing. My only criticism of Terzić today is that I'm disappointed in his reluctance to give youth team players a chance, to lighten the load on our senior squad. At the end of the day, though, it's cup football, and we got the job done, which is really what matters.

Anders: 5

Rarely has a 2-0 victory looked this bad. We won because of an own-goal and a penalty, and I think that says enough. Terzic really needs to do something, because I can come with a long list of Bundesliga teams that are currently playing far better than us.