Japan tour starts badly: BVB lose 1-0 in Osaka | OneFootball

Defeat at the start of the Japan tour: Borussia Dortmund lost 0-1 (0-1) to Cerezo Osaka thanks to a goal from Sakuragawa after just eight minutes. In hot and humid conditions, BVB were without numerous regular starters.

BVB coach Kovac also had to do without a number of key players against Osaka. However, there was a familiar name in the Japanese top-flight side’s lineup. Now 37 years old, Shinji Kagawa wore the black-and-yellow shirt from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2014 to 2019, recording 115 goal contributions in 216 appearances.

A lively start from the hosts, who immediately looked to push forward and produced some eye-catching moves. Osaka did that particularly well in the eighth minute. A cross from Nakamura found Sakuragawa, who headed home unmarked from a few yards out to make it 1-0.

It took a quarter of an hour for Borussia to show themselves in front of the opposition goal. After a one-two with Guirassy, Lerma curled the ball well wide of the top-right corner.

Dortmund struggled badly and never really got a grip on the game. The Black-and-Yellows made plenty of mistakes. Attacking moves were few and far between. To make matters worse, Mané had to go off injured after 35 minutes. He was replaced by U19 centre-back Riedl.

So close to the equaliser: Yamamoto played Guirassy through perfectly, but his shot missed the target by inches (40').

Fábio Silva misses chance to equalise

BVB began the second half with the same lineup.

As before the break, Osaka had the first good chance after the restart as well. Yokoyama got a shot away on the turn, but his effort struck Yan Couto’s knee (48').

After the Bundesliga side had weathered Cerezo’s first spell of pressure, they grew into the game better, but still lacked accuracy in their passing.

After an hour, Kovac made changes and further lowered the average age of his team. BVB put in a bit more after the break, but still lacked the necessary cutting edge. The match drifted along rather uneventfully during this phase.

Photo: IMAGO

The hosts themselves then created danger in their own penalty area. Fábio Silva chased down a looping ball toward goal, but could not put it in the net (81').

In the third minute of stoppage time, the ball finally ended up in the Japanese side’s net. However, Ritter was offside when he headed it, so Dortmund’s defeat remained unchanged.

Conclusion: For long stretches, the hosts looked like the more dangerous team. Guirassy and Fábio Silva had Dortmund’s best chances to equalise but failed to convert them. Overall, BVB were too harmless.

BVB (up to the 60th minute): Meyer – Gadou, Reggiani, Mané (35' Riedl) – Yan Couto, Bellingham, Lerma, Kabar – Yamamoto, Inácio – Guirassy

BVB (from the 60th minute): Meyer – Gadou, Ritter, Riedl (78' Faust) – Mirza, Azhil, Wessels, Duarte – Adje, Albert – Fábio Silva

Goal: 1-0 Sakuragawa (8')

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