The new BVB quality: red-hot substitutes, late goals, crucial points | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund remained unbeaten in their 16th consecutive league match on Saturday evening in the top-of-the-table clash in Leipzig (see the facts), although for a long time it looked as if they were destined for defeat. “In the first half, Leipzig were clearly the better team,” said Niko Kovac at the press conference. He only mentioned his tactical and personnel adjustments in passing, emphasising instead: “Then the team reacted really good and showed the right mentality.”

They did not dwell upon the lack of VAR intervention after Castello Lukeba's foul on Karim Adeyemi (89) and just pressed on. Three of the five substitutes, and indirectly a fourth in Yan Couto, contributed to the 2-2 equaliser in stoppage time (5). Couto passed the ball back to Julian Ryerson, who then passed it to Julian Brandt, while Adeyemi and Fabio Silva sprinted down the halfway line. Brandt’s pass was perfect in both timing and precision, the kind of play that distinguishes a good Bundesliga player from an outstanding footballer. The way was clear for Adeyemi. Silva broke free from Leipzig's Willi Orban, Adeyemi squared the ball, and then Fabio Silva sent it home from a tight angle, against the goalkeeper's momentum.

And what also spoke in favour of the team's eagerness is that they weren't satisfied with the late 2-2 draw, as there were still three minutes to play. In fact, Brandt had a chance to make it 3-2, but Leipzig's goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt managed to save the powerful shot (90+8).

Borussia Dortmund secured “just” one point in stoppage time, their sixth of the season! Maxi Beier's 1-0 win against Köln (90+6) secured two points in the autumn, Beier's 2-0 against Gladbach just before Christmas (90+7) secured a win, Carney Chukwuemeka's 3-3 draw in Frankfurt (90+6) mean another point, and Emre Can's penalty at 3-2 against St. Pauli (90+6) added two more points. And now it’s Fabio Silva in Leipzig (2-2, 90+5) – it was the Portuguese player's first Bundesliga goal (he had scored in Copenhagen in the Champions League).

The 23-year-old felt rewarded for “working hard and giving everything in training. Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes it goes faster.” He said in an interview with BVB-TV: “The most important thing is to work for the team, to do what I set out to do, providing assists, for example. The most important thing is also to have good teammates, good people behind and beside me.”

After six consecutive wins, Borussia Dortmund have dropped points for the first time in their quest for Champions League qualification, but at the same time, they didn't lose ground on third-placed Hoffenheim (who drew 2-2 in Cologne), kept Leipzig at bay (still eleven points), and even gained a point on Leverkusen (who lost 1-0 at Union Berlin). “Now we have to see what Stuttgart is going to do tomorrow,” said Kovac on Saturday evening as he left Leipzig, and of course, “continued to look back”. While the clash with Bayern next Saturday may already be exciting the German football fans, for the coach it's still a long way away. First up is Bergamo, the most important match of the coming weeks.