Borussia Dortmund ended their two-match losing run in the league by coming from behind to beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-2 at Signal Iduna Park.
The first half proved to be eventual with Gladbach taking a two-goal lead after goals from Rocco Reitz and Manu Koné within the first 30 minutes. However, Dortmund managed to rally together and came from behind to head into half-time 3-2 up after Marcel Sabitzer, Niclas Füllkrug and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens all scored for Dortmund.
The second half was far less eventful than the first one. Dortmund improved and actually looked like a team that deserved to be in winning the game for the first time in the league this season, while Gladbach pilled on the pressure in the latter stages of the game before Donyell Malen scored a fourth on the counter after Gladbach’s keeper came up for a corner.
The win sees Dortmund move back into the top four and gives them a big boost ahead of playing Milan in the Champions League in midweek.
Dortmund show signs of improvement:
Apart from nearly shooting themselves in the foot in the first 30 minutes whilst also having some luck on their side for two of their goals, Dortmund showed that they have made improvements after their disastrous performance against VfB Stuttgart just before the international break.
At the end of the first half and beginning of the second half, Dortmund were in control of the game and looked like a team that should be winning the game. However, there are still areas that need to be ironed out such as the fact that they were completely lost at sea in the opening 30 minutes and against a better team would have been punished even more.
The biggest test for Dortmund will be against table-toppers Bayer Leverkusen next Sunday.
Defending is Gladbach’s weak point:
For the majority of the first half, Gladbach were the better team and could have easily been ahead by more than two goals but their defending let them down today. A stronger defence would have stopped Dortmund from turning the game around in 15 minutes and Gladbach could have walked away with at least one point.
The return of Ko Itakura from injury will be a big plus for Gladbach as when he has played he has been by far Gladbach’s best defensive player. However, this is not just a player problem during his time at Leverkusen, Gerardo Seoane was known to not be a coach who prioritises defending and this has been seen during his time at Gladbach.
Jamie Bynoe-Gittens deserves more playing time:
It is widely known that Edin Terzic is not the best at playing young players but Bynoe-Gittens’ performance today shows that he is Dortmund’s best out-and-out winger. Both Karim Adeyemi and Malen have shown that they are not performing at the levels that they reached last season and that should justify the Englishman getting more game time.
The 19-year-old combined well with Niclas Füllkrug today and offers a dynamism that Dortmund’s other attackers do not possess. This is not the first time that Bynoe-Gittens has shown this as at points of Dortmund’s title push last season he also proved to be an effective wildcard.
If Terzic refuses to see this then it could end up with another situation like Youssoufa Moukoko.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
