Borussia Dortmund

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Match:


			Borussia Dortmund - Borussia Mönchengladbach 2:1 (1:0)

Season 2005/2006, Matchday 11, 29.10.2005 15:30

Matchreport

2-1 - Kehl And Smolarek Allow 80,000 To Celebrate - A Nervous Match In Summer-like Tempratures

[29.10.] Chance taken! Borussia Dortmund halved the points difference between them and their direct competition from six points to three with a 2-1 home victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach and after four draws in a row, finally celertated a much-needed victory. In front of an almost sold out crowd, Kehl and Smolarek were the goal scorers for BVB. Neuville pulled back a consolation goal at the end of injury time for Gladbach.

Boris Rupert and Constantin Blass report from SIGNAL IDUNA PARK - translated by Keith Richardson.

80,100 spectators at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK saw a hectic match with lots of unnecessary ball losses on both sides, but the advantage in the first half went to BVB when Sebastian Kehl headed a Dede cross into the net after 22 minutes. The deciding goal by Smolarek wasn´t scored until the 90th minute. Neuville´s consolation goal for Gladbach came in the final minute of stoppage time.

Pre-Match:
The eighth placed team took on the fifth placed team. Borussia Mönchengladbach, with 18 points had six more in their account than Borussia Dortmund, who had lost only one of it´s last nine home matches. Gladbach had a tough start to the season, but in the past five matches took 13 out of a possible 15 points. In their recent match at Bielefeld, Gladbach won an away match for the first time in a year and a half.

Lars Ricken justified his trainer's confidence in him.

Personnel Status:
After taking in the 1-1 draw against HSV, there were two lineup changes for BVB: Ricken replaced Buckley and Brzenska replaced the injured Metzelder (Back problems). Along with them, long-term injuries Koller, van der Gun and Tyrala were also missing. The opponents employed the same formation they used to defeat Kaiserslatuern 4-1 in their previous Bundesliga match.

Tactics:
BVB seems to always be better going down the right side against teams who play with a "diamond" in midfield. Against Gladbach, Kringe and Dede wandered into the center to slow forwards and prevent Gladbach from holding a numerical superiority in midfield. Rosicky and Sahin changed positions frequently where the Czech usually moved to the right. In attack, the speedy David Odonkor enjoyed a one-on-one duel with Marcell Jansen in Gladbach´s back four.

Florian Kringe was again completely satisfactory in his defensive role.

Match Report and Analysis:
As in the interesting, compelling and convincing home match against HSV, Borussia Dortmund was in the first half against Mönchengladbach not immediately able to accomplish it´s match plan. Especially in the first ten minutes of the first half and the last fifteen minutes, the play was confusing and stamped with many bad passes. However, between those times, the match was extremely exciting.

The first two goal chances of the match both fell to Dortmund´s young jewel Nuri Sahin. But on both shots in the 13th and 14th minutes, he shot just wide of the Gladbach goal. Just sixty seconds later, Odonkor was unlucky as he was sent in with a nice pass from Smolarek as he went past Marcell Jansen and so went those chances in the span of a few minutes. Milan Fukal had chances for Gladbach in the 16th minute with a long shot parried over the bar by Weidenfeller, and the 17th minute with a header from a corner kick.

Borussia Dortmund took a well-deserved lead in the 22nd minute when Rosicky passed to Dede on the left wing, the Brazilian sent a cross into the center and Kehl beat Zé Antonio in a jump for the ball, heading past Kasey Keller into the Gladbach net for the 1:0 lead. After that, once again, BVB inexplicably took the push out of their game and allowed Gladbach to take control. However, Gladbach were unable to muster more than an El Fakiri shot on Roman Weidenfeller in the BVB goal.

Markus Brzenska and Milan Fukal in a header battle.

Immediately after halftime, the Borussia from Westfalen (Westfalia) had two chances to fire themselves into the claming position of a 2-0 lead for only the third time this season (2-0 against Bielefeld, 3-3 against Kaiserslautern). On the first chance, Keller misjudged a Rosicky corner kick, but Kehl had a falling defensive player in front of him, blocking a shot from about eight meters out in the 47th minute. Two minutes later, Ricken put a Dede cross just over the Gladbach goal.

Then there were two scary situations from the Dortmund perspective: First, Neuville put a 16 meter free kick into the Schwarz-Gelb (Black & Yellow) defensive wall in the 55th minute. Immediately after that, Rosicky was replaced in the match by Kruska. The 18 year old took up a holding position in midfield with the 17 year old Sahin. Neuville became the "wrong Borussia" from the Lower Rhein region´s catalyst in midfield. The striker (Four goals, four assists) was active on both wings and won balls in midfield himself. The Gladbach side was abundant with self-confidence.

As time passed, the match became more hectic, especially since the referee incurred the wrath of the fans with many of his decisions. The 80,100 in attendance had to endure some anxious minutes before Smolarek gave them the 2-0 lead in the 90th minute. Degen did well to head on a Dede´ free kick and the Polish striker was quicker to pounce on it than Gladbach´s Strasser, heading it past Keller and into the Gladbach net - the ninth goal on the season for Smolarek!

Outlook:
Before the international break on the second weekend of November, BVB will have an away match on November 5th in Leverkusen. In both matches last season, BVB beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1-0.