Post Match Reactions: Last Second Equalizer Sees Dortmund Draw Bayer Leverkusen

Alright. First things first - it is okay to be frustrated. Borussia Dortmund drew to reigning league champions, Bayer Leverkusen, after conceding a goal in the 97th minute. Emotions were high on and off the pitch as players scrapped and fans experienced the despair and euphoria of a 97th-minute goal. Let’s break down how it happened, the bigger picture, and takeaways from the match as Dortmund continues its climactic end to the season.

How it Happened

Borussia Dortmund did a lot right this match and needed a lot of luck to be up 1-0 in the dying minutes of this match. In the first 45, it was a cagey affair with Dortmund keen on playing the role of frustrating underdog which they did well. Leverkusen retained 58% of the possession but had zero shots on target. On the other end, Dortmund had very limited chances outside of a 42nd-minute shout from Marcel Sabitzer led to Ian Matseen scuffing his rebound shot.

The second half, however, saw the game open up for both sides. Hummels and Schlotterbeck were both heavily involved in the match with the former winning 9 of his 10 duels. Leverkusen’s first shot on target came off a Frimpong freekick in the 57th minute that forced Kobel to make a fantastic save. Eventually, Dortmund would be the first team to draw blood after Marcel Sabitzer found Füllkrug in the box for a thundering shot into the back of the net in the 81st minute. Both sides made a host of changes with Julien Duranville and Salih Özcan coming on for Dortmund while Xabi Alonso chucked forwards, Patrik Schick and Victor Boniface, on for Bayer Leverkusen.

Photo by ANP via Getty Images

In the 87th minute, everything hit the fan. A frustrated Jeremie Frimpong and Nico Schlotterbeck were at the center of a scrap that initially saw Victor Boniface receive a red card for contact to the face but that was later overturned following forensic crime-scene analysis ruling Granit Xhaka the culprit of a yellow-card misdemeanor. While I would love to cry victim and say Leverkusen players brutally accosted our poor Nico, it was fairly clear that Schlotterbeck was winding Frimpong up and was pushed over in a pretty harmless coming together. It would have been poor if any player from either side was sent off here.

The last minutes of the game saw what everyone should have expected. A very poor handball from 17-year-old Julien Duranville saw Bayer Leverkusen awarded a free kick that led to the eventual game-winning corner kick. Alonso’s Leverkusen is a team where if you give them an opportunity late in the game, they convert it. Duranville’s mistake was not the nail in the coffin for Borussia Dortmund, that was poor corner defending, but it did give Leverkusen a chance in the closing stages of this one. It is important to remember, however, that the kid was born the same year that Mats Hummels signed his first professional contract. It was a costly mistake from the 5th-string winger but, as a team with a history of youth development, we have to understand that kids make mistakes.

Bayer Leverkusen full-back and Bayern loanee Josip Stanisic quite literally rose to the occasion once again and converted the ensuing corner. Dortmund found themselves on the receiving end of Leverkusen’s famous never-say-die goals and will not be the team to snap Leverkusen’s unbeaten run.

Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images

The Big Picture

Dortmund now find themselves two points behind RB Leipzig and six points behind VfB Stuttgart in the battle for Champions League football next season. The development that Germany will likely get a fifth Champions League spot is good news for Dortmund because the side are the clear underdog in the fourth-place race.

A massive 6-point match in Leipzig will take place next Saturday. Dortmund will be without both Ian Maatsen and Emre Can after both players received their fifth yellow cards of the season. It makes the game against the Cans much harder next week but no game is easy for Borussia Dortmund at this stage of the season.

The good news? Despite being six points behind VfB Stuttgart, who Dortmund lost to several weeks ago, Terzic’s men could end up catching them. Stuttgart have the most difficult schedule remaining with matches against Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, a resurgent Augsburg, and volatile Monchengladbach. Borussia Dortmund will need every point they can get and, if they can win against Leipzig, could have at fourth place.

Takeaways

• How could this happen to... us? While it is easy to be woe-is-me about a last second equalizer to Bayer Leverkusen, Dortmund are not alone in that feeling. Bayer Leverkusen now have 12 80+ minute goals in their last eleven games. The good news is that when your grandkids ask you about Leverkusen’s 100-game unbeaten run, you can have flashbacks that exact corner!
• Dortmund (almost) rise to the occasion. The last-minute goal is bitter but Dortmund continues to fight back against the narrative that they struggle in big games. After no key victories in important games during the first half of the season, Dortmund have now recorded vital wins against Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt, and PSV. The late draw against the most in-form team in Europe, shows that Dortmund have become a tougher team to beat.
• Dortmund still has issues with creativity. Leverkusen has a simple plan out of possession - put two defenders on Julian Brandt and win the ball on the wings. Brandt struggled to make his usual impact this game and Dortmund was often forced to play the ball out wide. The absences of Donyell Malen and Karim Adeyemi meant Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Jadon Sancho were the two to challenge Leverkusen’s excellent wingbacks and both Englishmen failed to do so.
• Sabitzer and the defense continue to impress. Marcel Sabitzer, Mats Hummels, Nico Schlotterbeck the full-backs, and Gregor Kobel all played great games. Sabitzer was very lively and notched the eventual assist alongside several key shots. The defense should be given a lot of credit because they responded very well to Leverkusen’s siege—outside of the last-second equalizer, of course.

Your Thoughts?

What were your thoughts on the game? Am I an idiot? Feel free to yell at us in the comments!