With a lot of luck, BVB took an important step towards the knockout phase after three consecutive competitive matches without a win in the Champions League. Coach Niko Kovac’s side won 4-0 (1-0) against FC Villarreal on Tuesday after a weak first half – but the tally was too high against visitors who only had ten players playing for long periods.
Serhou Guirassy ended his goal drought with a brace (45+2/54), and Karim Adeyemi also scored after the fuss surrounding a penalty notice for illegal weapons possession (58). Daniel Svensson scored Dortmund’s fourth goal (90+5). Villarreal’s Juan Foyth was shown a red card for a deliberate handball on the goal line – a tough call. BVB also had a lot of luck with their first three goals against the third team in the Primera Division.
“The red card was good for us,” said national player Nico Schlotterbeck on Amazon Prime. The defender saw a significant improvement in performance: “The second half was very good. Just as we expected.”
With ten points from five matches, Dortmund increases their chances of directly qualifying for the round of 16. In contrast, Villarreal has still never won in the premier class of European football. “We now have three games left, two at home. I’m of the opinion that if you win two games, you’re through,” said Schlotterbeck.
Average performance is enough for BVB
Before the double duel with Bayer Leverkusen in the league (Saturday on the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) and in the DFB Cup (Tuesday on the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup and the first), Kovac rotated five times – once out of necessity as striker Maximilian Beier was unavailable. Among others, national striker Adeyemi was included in the starting Eleven. The BVB coach justified the personnel changes on Amazon Prime with “freshness”: “We played at home today. We wanted to win the game.”
However, after three consecutive winless games, his team is yearning for stability. This was also clearly visible in the first half. Dortmund started dominantly, but without creating any chances. As the match progressed, the Spanish players became bolder and caused problems for a nervous BVB.
The decision favors Dortmund
Shortly before the break entered the break, BVB coincidentally took the lead. After poking in the penalty area, Guirassy pushed the ball over the line with his head. The previous season’s Champions League top scorer, who has struggled in recent weeks, scored for the first time in all of November. The goal was checked because the ball had previously hit Waldemar Anton’s hand, but it was classified as accidental.
With a lot of luck, things continued after the break. Adeyemi completed a promising counter-attack with a shot on target which bounced off Foyth’s shoulder on the goal line. Italian referee Davide Massa still gave a hand penalty, even doing so after studying the video images and then issued a red card to the Argentinian player who also jumped towards the ball. Guirassy only made it 2-0 with a follow-up shot; Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior has saved penalties before.
Moments later, against just ten guests, Adeyemi inadvertently made it 3-0. The 23 year old player was shot by Thomas Partey. Substitute Fábio Silva initially squandered a good chance to make things clear with a penalty in stoppage time (82′). Svensson then succeeded.
