Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Fortuna Dusseldorf
Borussia Dortmund have taken the Bundesliga title race to the last week with a thrilling win over Fortuna Dusseldorf at the Signal Iduna Park.
Friedhelm Funkel’s visitors put up a good fight, but Lucien Favre steered his side to a deserved win. Christian Pulisic headed the hosts in front just before the break and then a dramatic second half saw Fortuna level, and then miss a penalty to let the hosts off the hook.
There was no escaping the fact that the other Bundesliga 2019 updates of the day, namely FC Bayern’s trip to third placed RB Leipzig, would have as big an impact on BVB as their own performance would. And when the news came in that the champions had drawn it made this result mean a whole lot more.
The Bundesliga 2019 betting odds have been firmly in favour of the Bavarians since their 0-5 destruction of BVB in April, but Favre’s team’s hopes are still alive.
Highlights of the game
Dortmund’s catastrophic derby defeat at home to Schalke delivered a near fatal blow to their title hopes, and the passionate fans in the Yellow Wall tried to lift their heroes up for one last push.
But it was Die Flingeraner which had the first attempt on goal, when Markus Suttner centred for Dodi Lukebakio to head towards the bottom right corner but Marwin Hitz was equal to it. That awoke the hosts and Paco Alcacer put Pulisic through on goal but his shot flew wide. Raphael Guerreiro then tested Michael Rensing with a low shot which the Fortuna keeper got down well to save.
The visitors weren’t in Dortmund just to watch though, and Matthias Zimmerman put in a dangerous cross but Dawid Kownacki headed high and wide.
Thomas Delaney and Guerreiro both had shots from distance for BVB but neither troubled Rensing in the Fortuna goal.
Jadon Sancho has been a revelation in this year’s Bundesliga, leading the assists chart with 14 before this match, but Favre started with the young English star on the bench. And the fans in the Yellow Wall were starting to question the wisdom of that as half time approached. But then, on 41 minutes, they erupted as Pulisic broke the deadlock. Delaney headed the ball into the danger area and the young American stole in to nod home into the bottom right corner from close range.
There was a buzz around the Signal Iduna Park when the news came that the first half in Leipzig was goalless, which meant the race for the Bundesliga was not yet over.
If the first half was a fairly cagey affair, the second began at a hectic pace and the visitors silenced the home crowd just two minutes after the break. The dangerous Suttner fired a cross in and skipper Oliver Fink planted his header beyond Hitz and into the net.
Dortmund fought back quickly though, and were ahead again, on 53 minutes, when Delaney had a shot blocked but found the net with his second attempt. And then just before the hour there was high drama. Lukebakio was brought down by Hitz and the referee pointed to the penalty spot, but the BVB keeper stayed down injured.
When he got to his feet two minutes later Lukebakio had been waiting too long, and when he took the spot kick he side footed it wide of the right post.
That inspired the home side to get on the front foot and both Mario Gotze and Axel Witsel had shots charged down, while Favre brought Sancho on to loud cheers. And Fortuna went down to ten men when Adam Bodzek received his marching orders on 82 minutes for a nasty foul on Sancho, to end Fortuna’s hopes.
Gotze made the points safe in the second minute of injury time but here was still time for Dawid Kownacki to pull one back with virtually the last kick.
Key statistics
BVB and Fortuna came into the match with identical recent records of three wins, two defeats and a draw in the last six games. Dusseldorf were trying to do a league double over their hosts but at pre-match SBOBET odds of 7.80 this was always a big ask.
Dortmund just about deserved their half time lead, having enjoyed 60 per cent possession and leading the shot count by six to two.
But the second half exploded into life; and after Fortuna missed a penalty chance and went down to ten men the points were destined to stay in Dortmund.
What’s next?
BVB will finish with a difficult trip away to Borussia Monchengladbach. A poor run of one win in six games meant the hosts let their grip on a Champions League place slip; but today they kept them alive with a thumping 0-4 win away to Nurnberg.
FC Bayern are at home to another Champions League chasing side when Eintracht Frankfurt visit the Allianz Arena. Win that and the title stays in Bavaria.
Meanwhile, Die Flingeraner will end with a home match against relegated Hannover 96.
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