Borussia Dortmund claws second place: 3: 1 in Fürth
JJulian Brandt has Borussia Dortmund secured second place in the 2021/2022 Bundesliga season. With a brace against relegated Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth, the national player eliminated the last theoretical doubts about second place behind permanent champion FC Bayern Munich.
For Dortmund, the home farewell to Fürth coach Stefan Leitl was like a summer kick without the necessary sharpness and speed, but in the final phase of the 3-1 (1-0) they turned up the heat on Saturday. Brandt converted BVB’s first chance in the 26th minute and took the lead again after the break (72nd minute). With his first Bundesliga goal, Jessic Ngankam (70th) made the Fürth supporters cheer in the meantime. Felix Passlack (77th) increased with a deflected shot in the stadium, which was sold out with 16,626 fans.
The Borussia this time goalless Erling Haaland showed only a tiny reaction after the indisputable 3:4 against VfL Bochum and won through her higher individual class. In their last home game, the Fürthers were equal opponents for a long time.
Haaland has had difficult days. His advisor Mino Raiola died last Saturday and was buried in Monaco on Thursday. “You could tell that it weighed on him too, that he had a very close bond with Raiola – just like Malen. That’s why there was no question for us to sack him on Thursday and he’ll still give it a go today,” said Dortmund’s license player manager Sebastian Kehl said before the game. Haaland, like teammate Donyell Malen, traveled to the funeral service.
Like the rest of the team, the Norwegian found it difficult to get going against the Fürth team. Haaland kept encouraging his teammates to move up, while Dortmund initially didn’t do enough with their possession of the ball. The industrious Fürth only gave BVB little space. Leitl also made sure of that with a clever change: Striker Jamie Leweling sometimes even gave a left full-back and thus slowed down the offensive efforts of Dortmund on the right side.
The video referee spoiled Fürther’s jubilation about the supposed lead in the 23rd minute by captain Branimir Hrgota because of offside. The technically clearly superior Dortmund countered with a dust collector: keeper Andreas Linde only let a shot from Raphaël Guerreiro parry, Brandt followed up successfully.
The Fürth managing director Rachid Azzouzi spoke of a “sad day” because he had to say goodbye to promotion coach Leitl before the game. The 44-year-old, who is likely to move to Hannover 96, received a lot of encouragement from the stands, and his players applauded him. In the second half, Dortmund had more space against more courageous hosts. Haaland kept getting stuck on a Fürth opponent and was later replaced without the big accents.
With a remarkable lob, Ngankam gave the Franconian fans a well-deserved goal celebration. In return, Brandt again completed a Dortmund counterattack. Passlack also tunneled Fürth’s goalkeeper Linde. A goal by Jude Bellingham (85th) did not count because Haaland was offside, who had blocked an opponent.
