FREIBURG (dpa-AFX) - Borussia Dortmund is entering the last Bundesliga week of the year with a lot of uncertainty. Ahead of the explosive prestige duel with Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday, BVB once again threw away a victory, losing 1-1 (1-0) despite being a man down, and failed to deliver the hoped-for response to their recent embarrassment in the Champions League. With 29 points from 14 games, they also failed to make the hoped-for jump to second place in the table.
Ramy Bensebaini scored in the 31st minute for BVB, who missed out on their eighth competitive win in a row against favorite opponents Freiburg in the closing stages. After Jobe Bellingham was sent off for a professional foul (53'), Dortmund had to play with ten men for a long time, and with a quarter of an hour to go, Freiburg's Lucas Holer scored a fantastic goal to make it 1-1.
"He scores a goal like that once in a lifetime," Dortmund captain Emre Can told DAZN. "We have to live with it, and I can live with it too. You can't expect to win here with one man down," said BVB coach Niko Kovac, referring to the scene of the game: the sending-off of Bellingham, which was preceded by a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Gregor Kobel to the Englishman.
Kobel's mistake changes the game
"He played the ball to his wrong foot," Kovac criticized his keeper, who accepted the resulting red card: "I have to play better." After the red card, the game turned and Freiburg grew stronger and stronger.
The embarrassing 2-2 draw against Norwegian underdogs FK Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League and the public criticism of his teammates by defensive leader Nico Schlotterbeck had already caused unrest at BVB during the week. The draw in Breisgau is unlikely to help improve the mood at the eight-time champions.
Dortmund, who were missing Waldemar Anton, Julian Brandt, and Aaron Anselmino, among others, started courageously and had more of the game in the first half. Yan Couto in particular pushed forward repeatedly down the right wing and sought out striker Serhou Guirassy with his crosses, who formed a double strike force with Fabio Silva this time. In the tenth minute, Couto showed a little too much commitment, pushing opponent Johan Manzambi over the advertising hoarding and receiving a yellow card for his efforts.
Guirassy missed the first chances for BVB with headers in the 5th and 17th minutes. Then Guinea's national striker showed a fine combination with Carney Chukwuemeka, at the end of which the Englishman only hit the left post (21'). Another high cross from Couto, this time from a free kick, led to the 1-0 lead for the visitors. Bensebaini buried the ball into the Freiburg net from close range on the rebound, rewarding BVB for their good first half hour.
The Sport-Club, who were without the injured Philipp Lienhart and Niklas Beste due to illness, were largely harmless in attack in front of 34,700 spectators. However, they did create two good chances in the closing stages of the first half through Yuito Suzuki (39') and captain Christian Günter (45').
Freiburg pile on the pressure with a man advantage
The second half had barely begun when Dortmund weakened themselves with a red card. Kobel played a far too risky pass to Bellingham, who fouled Philipp Treu and was sent off with a red card. Freiburg's Günter curled the resulting free kick just wide of the left post (55').
Kovac reacted by bringing on Pascal Groß for Silva in an attempt to strengthen his defense, which was now naturally under increasing pressure. It was a completely different game from the first half, with Freiburg, now with a man advantage, clearly having more possession and applying more pressure. Kobel saved against Treu (69') and deflected a shot from Suzuki onto the crossbar (73'). However, he was powerless to stop Holer's spectacular bicycle kick, which flew into the net off the inside post.
In the final stages, Dortmund were even lucky when a goal by Freiburg's Igor Matanovic (86') was disallowed for offside.
