Dortmund and Leipzig light up a festive Bundesliga Englische Woche
Borussia Dortmund hosted RB Leipzig in the highlight fixture of the midweek Bundesliga fixtures. Ryan Hunn was at the Westfalenstadion to witness one of the games of the season, and rounds up the rest of the Bundesliga Englische Woche talking points.
In the 34th minute, when Julian Brandt took a Jadon Sancho pass on the turn in the Leipzig box, the Westfalenstadion collectively rose to its feet. Brandt took a second touch with his right, pirouetting past Dayot Upamecano, before firing into the bottom right hand corner past Péter Gulácsi in the Leipzig goal. Was für ein Tor. The Westfalen - already buoyed by a pre-match Christmas sing-a-long from the Sonnenkinder aus Selm choir - leapt to their feet, and erupted with joy.
Brandt’s brilliance put the home side two-nil up against the league leaders in the showpiece event of a festive Bundesliga Englische Woche. Weigl’s first Bundesliga goal in 14 months from the edge of the box ten minutes earlier had put the home side ahead. These strikes were a reward for Dortmund’s first-half dominance, which were by some distance their best opening forty-five minutes of the season.
Brandt – superb once more in a deeper midfield role – and Achraf Hakimi caused Leipzig so many problems, escaping the press and dominating possession. After 15 minutes, the home side had registered up to 67% possession, the visitors unable to get a footing in the game, despite rotating heavily the weekend before. In fact, Dortmund were so much in control that after half an hour Leipzig were yet to have a shot. They managed two - both off target - before Roman Bürki made two smart saves in stoppage time before the break. They both came from headers: one from Yussuf Poulsen and the second from Timo Werner, shortly after. The very best of Bürki topped off the very best of Dortmund as the half-time whistle blew.
Many returned to their seats after half-time to the heavens opening and hell unfolding in front of them. Poulsen flicked on a simple ball up field from Gulácsi, and the sight of Bürki fifteen yards outside of his area was enough to stop many in their tracks. The Swiss keeper misjudged an attempted header and the ball fell to Werner, who side-footed into an empty net.
“Many returned to their seats after half-time to the heavens opening and hell unfolding in front of them. ”
Six minutes later and it was Brandt’s turn to become the villain. Controlling the ball on his chest, he attempted a volleyed back pass, which skidded off his studs straight into the path of Werner. Barely believing his luck, Werner rounded Bürki to once again roll into an unguarded Dortmund net. It was his 18th league goal of the season, just one behind top scorer Robert Lewandowski. The home fans, though having seen such self-inflicted disaster numerous times, still somehow couldn’t believe their eyes. While Brandt held his hands to his head in disbelief, wails of anguish cascaded from the imposing Südtribüne.
The rest of the Westfalenstadion urged the home side to take another lead, which duly came just two minutes later. Marco Reus was released down the right hand side and cut back to Sancho from the byline. Sancho took a touch, shifted it to his right foot and drove it past Gulácsi, the ball skidding off the Leipzig keeper into the roof of the net. It was Sancho’s fifth goal – along with four assists - in his last four games, continuing his run of scoring in seven consecutive games. With this goal he became the youngest player to reach 22 Bundesliga goals, having done so in just 60 games, almost 100 days shy of his 20th birthday.
Reus could have made it four, less than ten minutes later, and how die Schwarzgelben wished he had. With a quarter of an hour to play, Dayot Upamecano – who had been impressive all game – carried the ball into midfield and clipped a diagonal ball that drifted over Raphaël Guerreiro to Nordi Mukiele. Bürki came out and made a great save, but the ball fell to Patrick Schick, who fired into the ground and into the corner to equalise for the league leaders.
For the first time that evening, the ground fell silent and Lucien Favre sat with the look of a man who had been visited by ghosts of Christmases past, present and perhaps future. He remained so, well after the game – which finished 3-3 – and into the press conference, lamenting his side’s inability to get a vital fourth or continue their dominance for just a few second-half minutes. Leipzig’s boss, Julian Nagelsmann, conceded that his side were fortunate to leave Dortmund with a point; one which they celebrated like a win at full-time and which kept them top (albeit on goal difference, following Borussia Mönchengladbach’s 2-0 win over Paderborn).
Elsewhere, champions Bayern pulled off a late win at Freiburg thanks to a debut goal from Joshua Zirkzee in stoppage time, after coming on just two minutes before. Serge Gnabry made it three deep in stoppage time, giving Bayern a fortunate victory on their final visit to the Schwarzwald-Stadion.
Jürgen Klinsmann’s impressive start as Hertha BSC boss continued, as his side beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 in the BayArena. Hertha are unbeaten in three, taking seven points from a possible twelve under Klinsmann. Despite previously being on an impressive run, Leverkusen were greeted with a banner criticising their effort during Saturday’s defeat in the derby against local rivals, Köln - their first of two defeats without scoring in just a few days.
Speaking of Köln, it’s been a great week for Effzeh, who followed up Saturday’s win with another, coming from 2-0 down to beat Eintracht 2-4 in Frankfurt. It lifted Markus Grisdol’s side out of the bottom three - leapfrogging Werder Bremen - who were hammered 0-5 at home by Mainz. Achim Beierlorzer, who fired by Köln and replaced by Grisdol in November, has turned fortunes around at Mainz, winning three of his first five games in charge and moving them up to tenth in the table.