MOTM Poll: Dortmund Come Back to Win Against Freiburg

It wouldn't be Dortmund if the win was straightforward...

It was an entertaining affair in Freiburg’s Europa-Park Stadion as the Black and Yellows looked to shrug off a recent string of poor performances, while manager Edin Terzic hoped to end the barrage of questions being asked of his management. The game started in promising fashion with Dortmund maintaining the Lion’s Share of possession, leading BVB to take an early lead through a Mats Hummels header. This would be Dortmund’s only shot on target in the first half as the team’s organization began to steadily deteriorate, culminating in Freiburg’s two stoppage-time goals.

Thankfully the second half was an improvement, with Donny Malen scoring an equalizer on the hour-mark. When the game was starting to look stale, Freiburg’s Nicolas Höfler brought down Marcel Sabitzer with a nasty studs-up challenge which saw him sent off. BVB took advantage of having an extra man as they scored twice in the closing minutes of the game, securing victory and three points!

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Here are this week’s picks for Man of the Match:

Mats Hummels

Before this match began, I (somewhat jokingly) mentioned in our FTW chat that I was happy to see Hummels starting because he’s been our best attacker. Today our veteran defender was our most prolific attacker yet again, but this time his efforts were rewarded. Mats had three shots, each was on target and two crossed the goal-line. In addition, his rate of passing was 90% and he won several duals to deny Freiburg’s attacking momentum.

Marcel Sabitzer

This has been the strongest performance we’ve seen from from the Austrian. He made himself a strong presence in midfield and defended brilliantly at times, single-handedly blocking two shots on goal. His physicality was a large contributor in Dortmund recovering possession in the midfield.

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Marco Reus

This is the role that we hope to see Reus play this season. He may not be 100% for ninety minutes or more, but if this team can consistently get twenty minutes or a half-hour of top-quality Reus, then he might just continue to do what he did today. This was a Vintage Marco Reus performance with an injection of much-needed creativity. Reus also had a pair of shots on target and a goal to seal Dortmund’s victory.

Niklas Füllkrug

Like when Reus subbed in, the addition of Füllkrug changed Dortmund’s tempo. He seemed to find space where Haller had been lacking. Niklas sparked several attacks and he linked up well with Reus, Can and Wolf, which was great to see considering how little time he’s had to train in dortmund. His assist for Malen’s equalizing goal was only a minute after he entered the pitch; the German striker had an immediate impact in turning this game around.

Honorable Mentions: Julian Brandt, Donny Malen

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And just like that, BVB is only two-points off the table’s summit.

What did you think of Dortmund’s away win? The second half was certainly better than the Heidenheim game, right?