Borussia Dortmund played out a 1-1 (0-0) draw with English Premier League club Chelsea in Chicago (Illinois) in the third friendly of their USA Tour. Marius Wolf scored for the Black & Yellows in front of 48,183 spectators at Soldier Field.

Having beaten San Diego Loyal (6-0) and Manchester United (3-2), this was the first time during the USA Tour that BVB were held to a draw. The majority of the action initially took place in midfield, until Chelsea seized the initiative from the 10th minute: Christopher Nkunku was brought down in the box but the referee waved play on and Nicolas Jackson followed up from a central position. Goalkeeper Alexander Meyer made a strong save to keep the shot out (9). Three minutes later, Raheem Sterling failed to slot home a corner-kick at the back post. There was an opportunity for Donyell Malen but his headed attempt was decisively disrupted (18). A Ramy Bensebaini cross could not be brought under control by Karim Adeyemi or Marco Reus (25); the final pass frequently did not arrive in the period that followed either. The English outfit had the better chances in the closing stages of the first period. Ben Chilwell popped up at the near post in the 37th minute of the match but Meyer was in the right place, then Sterling fired wide of the far post three minutes later. The biggest opportunity was squandered by Jackson in the 42nd minute: he only had Meyer to beat but fired over both the goalkeeper and the goal. Marcel Sabitzer then had a long-range effort for BVB that was kept out by goalkeeper Kepa (45).

Wolf opens the scoring

BVB made the brighter start and worked their way into two promising positions shortly after the restart without finding the net. Substitute Samuel Bamba also spurned a chance to break the deadlock when he fired wide of the left upright (53). Chelsea posed a threat on the counter-attack several times: Bensebaini managed to block Carney Chukwuemeka’s shot in the 54th minute with his keeper Meyer already beaten. Dortmund’s attacking efforts petered out in the final third. Chelsea remained the more dangerous side and frequently got the ball up top but also tried their luck from distance too: Mykhalo Mudryk’s sturdy shot flew wide of the right corner of the goal. BVB ultimately used a set-piece to take the lead: Kepa had parried a corner to Bamba, who attempted to score from distance. Hendry Blank forwarded the ball to Marius Wolf, who slotted home from three metres out to make it 1-0 (80). Wolf almost added to the lead five minutes later but Kepa turned his shot around the upright. With a minute of regular time to go, Mason Burstow headed home to level the scores at 1-1.

Directly after the match the BVB players headed to the airport to commence the homeward journey to Germany.

BVB: Meyer – Ryerson (Wolf, 61), Süle (Papadopoulos, 61), Hummels (Blank, 72), Bensebaini (Bueno, 72) – Özcan (Can, 72) – Malen (Bamba, 46), Sabitzer (Brandt, 46), Reus (Nmecha, 72), Adeyemi (Hazard, 46) – Moukoko (Haller, 61)

Goals: 0-1 Wolf (80), 1-1 Burstow (89)
Christina Reinke