PLAYER RATINGS | Borussia Dortmund 1-0 1.FC Köln – A late Maximilian Beier goal rescue a vital three points for BVB | OneFootball

After the afternoon games on Saturday, Borussia Dortmund hosted 1.FC Köln, a side their fans actually have a fan friendship (it’s a German thing)

The first 45 were very quiet, with neither team having true standout chances. Karim Adeyemi had a shot saved by Marvin Schwäbe, while the best chance saw Said El Mala played through on goal, but in a 1v1 with Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel, his effort went the wrong side of the post. 

Dortmund were able to challenge Schwäbe more in the second half, but still were unable to find a breakthrough. Die Schwarzgelben were so dominant in the second 45 that Köln were unable to register a shot on goal after the break (via FotMob). The best chance came late on in the game when the Köln goalkeeper parried away substitute Julian Brandt’s deflected effort. 

It looked as if it was going to be one of those games for Dortmund where they were unable to take their chances and would regret their performance. However, with the ball pinning around the box, it landed at the feet of substitute Maximilian Beier, who was able to, through a sea of bodies, score in the 96th minute to make it 1-0 to Dortmund.

As the cliche goes, this was one of those games that, if you want to end the season with some silverware, you need to be able to win this type of game, when things don’t seem to be going your way, and Dortmund did. However, what that cliche does not take into account is that BVB are trying to catch up to a record-breaking Bayern Munich side. 

Substitutes played a big role in Dortmund’s success this evening. Not only did Beier score, Fabio Silva provided the assist, and the energy and tempo of the hosts were raised when Brandt was also subbed on. 

While for a Köln side, this result brought them back down to earth when it came to how they match up against the ‘bigger’ sides in the league. In the second half, they were thoroughly beaten, but football is about fine margins, and they could have very well won this game if El Mala was clinical enough. 

We now enter Pokal week. In midweek, Dortmund face Eintracht Frankfurt while Köln host Bayern in the DFB Pokal. 

Borussia Dortmund:

Gregor Kobel (5), Waldemar Anton (5), Nico Schlotterbeck (5), Ramy Bensebaini (5), Julian Ryerson (5), Marcel Sabitzer (5), Pascal Groß (5), Daniel Svensson (6), Carney Chukwuemeka (6), Sehrou Guirassy (5), Karim Adeyemi (5)

Others: Marcel Sabitzer (5), Maximilian Beier (5), Fabio Silva (-), Jobe Bellingham (-), Julian Brandt (-)

St.Pauli:

Marvin Schwäbe (7), Timo Hübers (6), Cenk Özkacar (5), Eric Martel (5), Sebastian Sebulonsen (5), Isak Johannesson (5), Denis Huseinbasic (5), Kristoffer Lund (6), Jakub Kaminski (5), Said El Mala (6), Marius Bülter (4)

Others: Tom Krauß (5), Dominique Heintz (5), Joel Schmied (5), Linton Maina (5), Ragnar Ache (5)

GGFN Man of the Match: Marvin Schwäbe (7)

With Köln bunkered down in their own half for what seemed like the entirety of the second half, several times they called upon their keeper to make a crucial save to keep Dortmund out, such as the Brandt effort late on. 

The 30-year-old made eight saves, but it would not be enough to take a point back to the Rhein Energie Stadion due to the 96th-minute winner from BVB. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan