Penalty shootout thriller against St. Pauli: Can discusses the BVB decision | OneFootball

After a late penalty, Borussia Dortmund ultimately decided the match against FC St. Pauli in their favor. Emre Can later explained why he took responsibility in such a high-pressure situation.

Borussia Dortmund narrowly avoided a disappointing draw against FC St. Pauli. It was only a penalty deep into stoppage time that secured the celebrated 3-2 victory—and sparked plenty of discussion. That’s because it wasn’t top scorer Serhou Guirassy, but captain Emre Can who took responsibility from the spot.

The situation began with a VAR review: Referee Harm Osmers awarded the penalty after watching the video footage, ruling that Maximilian Beier had been brought down by Ricky-Jade Jones just inside the penalty area. While many spectators in the stadium were still puzzling over the scene, Can decisively grabbed the ball—and confidently converted in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

After the final whistle, the BVB captain openly explained his decision. “I felt good,” Can told Sky, referring to his teammate’s special situation: “Serhou came on late. The last few months haven’t been easy for him.”

What BVB captain Can was thinking before the penalty

Guirassy had only been substituted in about 20 minutes before the end and, as in the 3-0 win over Werder Bremen, had initially started on the bench. On top of that, the national striker from Guinea hadn’t always been convincing from the spot recently. He had already missed a penalty in the season opener against St. Pauli, which could have made it 2-0 at the time—Dortmund ultimately only managed a 3-3 draw.

Guirassy also missed a penalty in the Champions League, although he did score on the rebound. Last season, he was still the regular penalty taker and converted eight penalties.

Can emphasized, however, that the decision was not about power. “If he had said to me, ‘Emre, I’ll take it today,’ then he would have been more than welcome to take it,” the captain made clear, adding: “It’s only about getting the ball in the net.” For him, the mental aspect was especially crucial: “You have to visualize it and manifest it, you can’t have any doubts.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.