December 11, (THEWILL) – Bochum upset the Bundesliga standings by drawing 1-1 with Borussia Dortmund in a tense Revierderby.
Sebastian Polter’s penalty in the 40th minute was enough for the mid-tablers to steal a point from die Borussen. However, Marco Rose’s side will see their loss of full points blamed on unfavourable decisions and a lack of clinical finishing.
After his dismissal in the previous game against Bayern Munich, the visiting manager served a touchline ban and watched from afar, and he will have cause for complaint with the officials once more as die Schwarzgelben were denied goal in dubious means; Marius Wolf’s drilled equaliser was ruled out after Jude Bellingham was adjudged to be offside.
Yet, Dortmund will blame themselves as well as Bellingham and Erling Haaland both squandered guilt-edged, golden chances to put Dortmund up in the first half, before the hosts claimed an unusual lead against the run of play.
Five minutes from time, super sub Julian Brandt snuck away an equaliser to give Dortmund the point their pressure and offensive ambition merited, with Haaland and Reus the architects in finally tearing their obstinate opponents apart for the equaliser.
Manuel Riemann made a crucial save from Bellingham early on to lay the groundwork for Thomas Reis’ side to put in a strong and methodical defensive performance: they clung on and defended for their lives in the closing stages to eke out a crucial point.
Dortmund’s title hopes were severely dented as they dropped two more points on Bayern Munich at the top.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side came from behind to defeat Mainz 2-1 on Saturday to open a six-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga log and look ready to maintain it.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
