BVB Stays Perfect with Come-from-Behind Win at Hoffenheim | OneFootball

Still having to make do without Ramy Bensebaini, among others; Head Coach Niko Kovac entrusted the back three to young Joane Gadou and Filippo Mane as well as veteran Waldemar Anton. Maxi Beier, who occupied the the number ten role, was involved in Borussia’s first attacking play in the sixth minute, his attempt being deflected behind for a corner. Guirassy then fired the first shot toward the opposition goal in the 22nd minute.

Up to that point, BVB had seemed somewhat cautious in its approach, with Hoffenheim looking the more proactive of the two teams. Anton had to clear the ball as the last line of defense on several occasions, his face reflecting his dissatisfaction with the play of some of his teammates. Just as the Black & Yellow seemed to be gaining momentum, TSG found more space and managed to created chances, forcing Gregor Kobel to come up with quality saves against Daghim (30') and Hlozek (34'). A thigh injurt suffered by Mane subsequently forced Niko Kovac to reshuffled his deck: While Svensson moved into the back three, Beier shifted to the left flank, making room in his previous position for substitute and brand-new signing Ethan Nwaneri.

Just before halftime, Hoffenheim took the lead. After Daghim’s curling shot was blocked, no Dortmund player could get to the ball; allowing Coufal to lay it off to Avdullahu on the right side of the box. The midfielder sent an unstoppable curling effort int the upper left corner from 22 meters out.

Borussia came out of the locker room with Joey Veerman in place of Felix Nmecha,  but the change did not seem to bear fruit at first, as Veerman and company did not look obviously improved from opening period. Lemperle (49’) and Kabak (53’) released additional warning shots, the former testing Kobel with his effort and later stealing the ball from Gadou (54') and sending a deflected finish past Kobel for 2-0 (54').

Shortly after TSG came close to making it 3-0, the BVB players celebrated their first goal of the match. Anton dispossessed Avdullahu in the Hoffneheim half and played it centrally to Guirassy, who kept his cool and chipped backstop Bauman to cut the deficit in half (61'). Kovac then brought on Luca Reggiani for Gadou and Fabio Silva for Karetsas. Just five minutes after Borussia's first goal, over 10,000 traveling BVB fans cheered the equalizer: On a long goal kick by Kobel; Guirassy controlled the ball with an exquisite touch inside the center circle and released a streaking Fabio Silva on the the left side of the box. Silva placed the ball perfectly inside of the left post for 2-2 (66').

Borussia completely turned the game on its head in the closing stages. Nwaneri sent the ball out to Silva on the left, and the Portuguese passed picked out Nwaneri, whose centering ball took a slight deflection off Avdullahu and was inadvertently sent into the net by his TSG teammate Hajdari (87'.).

TSG HOFFENHEIM – Borussia Dortmund 2-3 (1-0 at half)

Bundesliga, Matchday 2

TSG: Baumann – Coufal, Kabak (79. Hranac), Hajdari, Rots – Avdullahu, Burger (79. De Cat) – Wimmer (73. Conté), Daghim – Lemperle (84. Moerstedt), Hlozek (73. Kramaric)Bench: Philipp, Bernardo, Gendrey, Lenz

BVB: Kobel – Gadou (62' Reggiani), Anton, Mane (32' Nwaneri) – Ryerson, Nmecha (46' Veerman), Bellingham, Svensson – Karetsas (62'; Silva), Beier – Guirassy (87'; Sabitzer)Bench: Meyer, Chukwuemeka, Prates, AlbertAbsent: Bensebaini (bruised ribs), Can, Konstantelias (both torn ACLs), Inacio (suspended), Lerma (muscle injury), Schlotterbeck (recovering from a torn medial collateral ligament)