Beaming, Erling Haaland hugged teammate Axel Witsel after three difficult Dortmund points on the comeback. BVB was relieved at the return of the Norwegian striker and the 1-0 (1-0) win over Arminia Bielefeld. With the hard-earned success over the severely decimated Ostwestfalen, the Revierklub consolidated second place in the table and could reduce the gap to the leaders from Munich to four points with a win next Wednesday in the catch-up game at FSV Mainz 05.
Accompanied by the return of striker Haaland, who came on in the 63rd minute, after a seven-week forced break, Marius Wolf ensured Borussia’s deserved victory in the 21st minute in front of 33,000 spectators at Signal Iduna Park. “It doesn’t always have to be a spectacle. We did our homework today,” said goal scorer Wolf at Dazn. Defensive stabilizer Emre Can added: “It wasn’t our best game, it was just important to win.” Can didn’t dare to look at the table constellation. “We take it game by game. We don’t have to look at Bayern,” he demanded – and then added: “We always dream.”
On the other hand, the Bielefeld team, who had to play without six professionals infected with the corona virus and also without coach Frank Kramer, are getting closer and closer to the relegation zone after the last three defeats in a row and are now in 15th place.
Borussia, which was badly battered in terms of personnel, was missing a total of nine professionals and had no match practice for two weeks after the game in Mainz was canceled due to the corona virus, had the chance to take the lead early on when Donyell Malen (8th) shot the post. However, she found it difficult to get into the game. Arminia, known for their defensive strength, initially caused problems for the favorites with robust defensive work and a respectable build-up game. With a shot by Masaya Okugawa (14th), the guests indicated a goal threat for the first time.
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But BVB’s first really effective combination put East Westphalia, who had been equal up to that point, behind. After an excellent pass from Jude Bellingham, Thorgan Harzard passed the ball directly to Wolf from the right wing, who sent the ball over the line from close range.
It was only with this lead that BVB took control of the game and pushed for the 2-0. Goal scorer Wolf forced the opposing goalkeeper Stefan Ortega to do a brilliant job with a low shot in the 30th minute. A few minutes later referee Bastian Dankert reversed a penalty decision in favor of Borussia after video evidence.
On the other hand, Arminia hardly appeared on the offensive until the break. Dortmund’s emergency defence, which lacked three regulars in Mats Hummels, Thomas Meunier and Raphael Guerreiro, remained stable.
Even after the restart, BVB seemed closer to a second goal than Bielefeld to equalization. Attacker Malen was unlucky again when he hit the crossbar with a brilliant shot (59th). With the substitution of the two convalescents Haaland and Giovanni Reyna in the 63rd minute, coach Marco Rose wanted to liven up his team’s offensive game again. But the hoped-for effect did not materialize. Against Arminia, who was now risking everything, the hosts had counter chances to make it 2-0, but they didn’t succeed.
Frankfurt wins when Jürgen Grabowski says goodbye
After the first home win of the year as an emotional farewell to Jürgen Grabowski, the Eintracht Frankfurt fans once again sang the club anthem in memory of the football legend. With the 2:1 (0:1) against VfL Bochum, the Hessians celebrated their third competitive win in a row and thus a successful dress rehearsal for the second round of the Europa League round of 16 against Betis Sevilla. Sebastian Polter (19th minute) gave the promoted team the lead in front of 24,000 spectators, which Erhan Masovic (46th) equalized with an own goal shortly after the change. Daichi Kamada (52nd) scored the winning goal for Frankfurt, who climbed to ninth place in the Bundesliga with 37 points. Bochum remains eleventh with 32 points.
“I’m very proud and happy about this 2-1. It was very important, this win,” said Frankfurt defender Djibril Sow at Dazn. The opening phase of the second half was crucial from his point of view. “We came out great after half-time,” said the Swiss. Coach Oliver Glasner spoke of an “energetic performance” because his team came from behind. “I’m very satisfied. I can only compliment the boys. We are really happy about the three points.”
Bochum were crushed because the lead was handed over within a few minutes. “We all slept soundly,” said captain Anthony Losilla, “that was a decent away game from us. Now we go home without points. That’s annoying.” And goalscorer Polter grumbled: “I’m mad that we lost the game.”
Before the kick-off, the Frankfurters thought of their club legend Jürgen Grabowski, who died last Thursday at the age of 77. “Everyone has images in their heads, everyone has memories. Jürgen will never go completely because we will always think back to him,” said the visibly moved Eintracht President Peter Fischer in the presence of Grabowski’s wife Helga about the former world and European champion.
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After a minute’s silence, the ball rolled. Buoyed by the recent victories at Hertha BSC (4-1) and Betis Sevilla (2-1), the home side, who played with black armbands and started with the same formation for the third time in a row, got off to a better start . Kamada missed the chance for an early lead in the 2nd minute.
But it quickly became obvious: against Bochum, who had changed six positions, the Hessians, where midfielders Sebastian Rode and Danny da Costa were out for a short time, initially lacked the necessary precision in the build-up.
So the first hit fell on the other side. Polter headed in a free-kick from Konstantinos Stafylidis. And VfL could have done better – even had to. After submission by ex-Frankfurter Danny Blum, Takuma Asano was completely free in the middle, but failed from five meters at the outstanding reacting Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp. Frankfurt, on the other hand, continued to struggle on the offensive. Only in the final minutes of the first half did coach Oliver Glasner’s team increase the pressure again, but VfL withstood it.
Only 55 seconds after the restart, the time had finally come. Bochum’s defender Masovic unhappily tackled a shot by Jesper Lindström and put the ball into his own net. Eintracht had turned the game five minutes later when Kamada completed a classy attack over several stations from close range.
Bochum then tried to find a suitable answer to the double strike, but the guests lacked the power to penetrate. Frankfurt was more dangerous, but slipped at the end. In the final phase, Trapp held the Eintracht victory. (dpa)
