Thanks to Brandt and new tactics: BVB turns up the heat after the break

By Staff Admin On Oct 7, 2023

Thanks to a furious second half, Borussia Dortmund won its fourth Bundesliga game in a row with a 4-2 win against Union Berlin. The Köpenickers, on the other hand, suffered their seventh competitive defeat in a row.

BVB coach Edin Terzic made three changes after the 0-0 draw in the Champions League game against Milan, one of them forced: Bensebaini was missing due to a yellow-red suspension, Wolf came into the team, Ryerson moved to the left defense. In addition, Nmecha and Bynoe-Gittens started instead of Özcan and Brandt (both bench).

Union head coach Urs Fischer made two changes after the 2-3 defeat against Braga in the premier class. Trimmel and Laidouni played for Juranovic (not in the squad) and Tousart (bench).

Two early goals, then the VAR in focus

After a brief sampling phase in the first few minutes, an extremely turbulent first half developed. It started with a goal from national player Füllkrug, who scored for BVB after a corner kick (7th). Union responded almost immediately, and Füllkrug was involved again because he deflected Gosen’s header into his own goal (9th).

It was primarily standard situations that caused danger, while little happened during the game. Between the 18th and 29th minutes of the game, the main focus was on VAR Christian Dingert and his team: Initially, a supposed goal from Kral after a free kick (18th) was not recognized after a long check because the Czech was just offside. Bitter for Kral: He was replaced early on by Tousart before the VAR decision (20th).

A few minutes later, the VAR checked that Füllkrug was in an offside position after another offside goal (26′). The referee team’s original decision – no hit – stood. Just a few minutes later, Hummels fouled Becker in the penalty area, so that after a subsequent VAR check there was a penalty for Union, which Bonucci safely converted to give the team a 2-1 half-time lead (31′) – also his first Bundesliga goal.

The turning point comes with Brandt

After the break, Terzic brought on Brandt for Bynoe-Gittens. In addition, Can repeatedly moved between Hummels and Schlotterbeck in the defensive center. The tactical change at Borussia was immediately noticeable, as Dortmund now moved forward with more speed and momentum. A remarkable Sunday shot from the advanced Schlotterbeck, which Rönnow was only able to deflect, gave BVB the 2-2 score early in the second half (50th).

Union tried to defend themselves, but that opened up space for BVB, which Dortmund took advantage of on a counterattack in the 54th minute. Reus drove the ball forward and then played it to Brandt at the right moment, who confidently scored to make it 3-2 (54′). The Iron Men didn’t give up, substitute Aaronson narrowly missed the equalizer (65′), but Dortmund were more determined in the second half. The decision was finally made in the 71st minute. After a cross from season debutant Reyna, Rönnow defended it at the feet of Ryerson, whose long-range shot was unfortunately deflected by Gosens to make the final score 4-2.

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