BAfter the international knockout without his offensive trumps Marco Reus and Erling Haaland, orussia Dortmund immediately had the next frustrating experience. On Sunday, BVB had to settle for a 1-1 (1-0) draw at FC Augsburg, who were threatened with relegation, and are now eight points behind leaders and series champions Bayern Munich Write off coach Marco Rose. FCA, on the other hand, won a valuable bonus point in the relegation battle and gave up the relegation place to Hertha BSC.
“I saw a team that pulled on the chains that didn’t do everything right,” said the BVB trainer on the DAZN streaming service. “I would have liked to have taken a 1-0 lead today, but now we have to live with the point. The guys let out what was in the tank today.”
Goal soloist Torgan Hazard gave Dortmund the lead in the 35th minute in front of 15,330 spectators in the sold-out Augsburg Arena. Donyell Malen could have secured the looming work win, but FCA goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz was able to deflect a powerful shot from the attacker onto the crossbar with his fingertips after the break (51′). That took revenge: Dortmund became passive, FCA pushed, ran and celebrated Joker Noah Sarenren Bazee’s header goal (78th) after hopeless chaos in the BVB penalty area.
Three days after the depressing Europa League exit against Glasgow Rangers, Rose had hoped for a reaction from his decimated team. “Today it’s sporty. The disappointment isn’t over yet, but it’s not the first this year.”
Another one in Augsburg could not be prevented, although it looked like it at the break. Hazard moved Augsburg defenders Mads Pedersen and Felix Uduokhai one after the other when he scored in the penalty area and then put the ball in the far corner with a low shot.
Both teams played in a similar 3-4-3 formation. The Augsburgers, where coach Markus Weinzierl was able to coach on the sidelines again after the Corona quarantine, acted poisonously like in the 2-1 win against FC Bayern in November. For a long time, however, there was no explosive action in the offensive by the US boy Ricardo Pepi, who was still unable to score.
Dortmund’s defense, with Mats Hummels as defense chief in the centre, no longer seemed stable and confident as the season went on, but held tight except for the one goal conceded. The Augsburgers usually lacked a target player in the penalty area. The Augsburg substitute did not accept an invitation from BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who played a ball in Sarenren Bazee’s foot. His shot was blocked (71st). Later, however, he held his head decisively in a shot by Arne Maier. FCA pushed even more vehemently than Dortmund to win.
