DORTMUND (dpa-AFX) - Borussia Dortmund missed out on the perfect farewell gift for outgoing BVB boss Hans-Joachim Watzke. One day before his departure after more than 20 years in management, BVB only managed a turbulent 3-3 draw against VfB Stuttgart despite a 2-0 halftime lead. This means that Dortmund remain winless in their seventh competitive game in a row against the Swabians.
VfB remain level on points with BVB on 22. A hat trick from Deniz Undav (47th minute/71st/90th+1) earned the visitors a deserved draw. Substitute Karim Adeyemi could have made history with his goal to make it 3-2 (89th), but Undav struck again. There had been a lot of controversy surrounding Adeyemi recently due to a penalty order for illegal possession of weapons. Emre Can (34th minute/penalty) and Maximilian Beier (41st) had put Dortmund ahead before the break.
Fan protest paralyzes BVB
Dortmund started their first home game in four weeks very lethargically. Coach Niko Kovac had been looking forward to the support of the home fans after four away games in a row. However, in view of the Germany-wide fan protests against political measures for greater security in stadiums, there was an eerie silence for twelve minutes, as was the case in all Bundesliga stadiums.
This seemed to paralyze Dortmund, who struggled to get into the game. VfB initially had much more of the play, but failed to create any clear scoring chances. A collision between Undav and Nico Schlotterbeck in the Stuttgart penalty area ended the yawning boredom at the start of the game after a good half hour. Dortmund captain Can, who had been out with injury for a long time, converted the resulting penalty in his second appearance of the season.
After a nice attack a good five minutes later, Beier scored to give BVB a seemingly comfortable 2-0 halftime lead. VfB keeper Alexander Nübel had previously deflected a shot from Serhou Guirassy into Beier's path.
Genius stroke from Undav
A stroke of genius from Undav made the game exciting again shortly after the break. With his back to goal, the VfB striker held his own against Can in the penalty area and let a half-height ball glide over the instep of the stunned BVB keeper Gregor Kobel into the net.
The Swabians now sensed their chance and played courageously forward. Dortmund had space to counterattack. The supposed 3-1 by former Stuttgart player Guirassy was rightly disallowed for offside.
Kovac makes a late substitution
Stuttgart were now getting stronger. BVB coach Kovac, however, did not react by bringing on the quick Adeyemi from the bench. The coach had announced that he wanted to continue to rely on Adeyemi despite the affair, but left the 23-year-old on the bench for a long time, citing his recent absence during the international break.
This meant there was hardly any relief for the Westphalians, and Stuttgart once again deservedly equalized through Undav. Only then was Adeyemi allowed to play, missing the chance to regain the lead in the closing stages (83') but then striking before Undav scored again for VfB.
Dortmund thus remained winless after the 1-1 draw at HSV and now faces an emotional general meeting on Sunday, at which Watzke is to step down as spokesman for the management of the corporation and be elected club president. "It will of course be very emotional when Aki steps down after more than 20 years," said BVB sporting director Lars Ricken on the streaming service DAZN./lap/DP/zb
