BVB take a big step thanks to 2-0 win over Newcastle

Boris Rupert reporting

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Niclas Füllkrug fired Borussia into the lead in the 26th minute. Newcastle upped the tempo after the interval and a game dominated by BVB up to that point turned into an open exchange. Julian Brandt finished off a counter-attack around 10 minutes from time to complete the 2-0 win.

The scenario:   
After BVB’s 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture, both teams had four points on the board with three matchdays remaining. The Black & Yellows had claimed nine wins and six draws across their previous 17 home games in the UEFA Champions League.

Personnel matters:   
Dortmund were still without Emre Can and made three personnel changes to the team: Süle, Nmecha and Adeyemi replaced Wolf, Malen and Reus (latter two on bench).

Tactics:   
The Black & Yellows lined up in a 4-2-1-3 formation off the ball with two holding midfielders (Özcan, Sabitzer) behind the centrally positioned Nmecha. The transitions were very fluid in possession, with Brandt and Nmecha frequently in the No. 10 position. Newcastle defended in 4-5-1 formation with two broad banks and frequently looked to get forward down the left flank or via long balls up to Livramento on the right wing. During build-up play, right-back Tripper often positioned himself between the two central defenders or on the centre-right of midfield.

The match & analysis:
BVB started with great concentration, quickly won back balls that had been lost, registered 73% possession in the opening 20 minutes, also had the higher challenge win rate (59%) and created opportunities to score early on. Shots from Füllkrug from 19 metres out (13) and Adeyemi from a centre-right position in the box (16) posed a problem for away goalkeeper Pope. But the next attempt found the net: BVB pressed energetically and won the ball back twice on the way forward before Füllkrug fed Schlotterbeck’s intercepted through-ball into the path of Sabitzer. He played the ball into the middle from the right corner of the six-yard box and Füllkrug slotted it into the net to score his first Champions League goal for BVB.

The Black & Yellows dominated proceedings, even if Newcastle did have slightly more possession towards the end of the first half than they had beforehand and registered an attempt shortly before the break via Joelinton’s header, which did not pose Kobel any problems.

Newcastle re-emerged after the break with the wingers from the reverse fixture (Almiron and Gordon) and switched to a back three when building the play. Borussia initially struggled. Following a long ball, Livramento cut in from the right on the byline and shot from a narrow angle, forcing Kobel into a save with his foot (48). Seven minutes later Livramento, who was now pacing up and down the visitors’ right flank, delivered a precise cross towards the left post, but Özcan disrupted Joelinton decisively and his header from five metres out sailed narrowly wide.

At the other end, Brandt put Pope to the test with two long-range efforts (50/58). BVB continued to look lively and dangerous even in their visitors’ spell of pressure. The shot count stood at 14-7 by the 70th minute. Dortmund were very strong defensively, but had problems getting the ball forward because Newcastle were equally uncompromising with their pressing and kept the space compact.

In the 79th minute, a free-kick was awarded to the Magpies on the left wing due to a foul by Adeyemi. The cross was cleared, Adeyemi gathered the ball on the corner of the box and then played a long pass to Brandt over on the left. He initiated a two-on-one counter with Sabitzer and, after running almost the entire pitch, fired a low and well-placed shot from 13 metres into the bottom right corner to make it 2-0.

Outlook:   
Before continuing their UEFA Champions League campaign with a trip to Milan on 28 November, BVB have Bundesliga matches away in Stuttgart (Saturday at 15:30 CET) and at home to Gladbach (on Saturday 25/11, after the international break) on the agenda.

Teams & goals

UEFA Champions League Matchday 4
BORUSSIA DORTMUND 2-0 (1-0) NEWCASTLE UNITED

Bor. Dortmund: Kobel – Süle, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Ryerson – Özcan, Sabitzer – Nmecha – Adeyemi (Reus, 80), Füllkrug (Moukoko, 86), Brandt
Newcastle United: Pope – Trippier, Lascelles, Schär, Hall (Almiron, 46) – Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock (Miley, 80) – Livramento, Joelinton – Wilson (Gordon, 46)
Substitutes: Meyer, Lotka; Bensebaini, Blank, Reus, Reyna, Wolf, Bynoe-Gittens, Haller, Malen – Dubravka, Karius; Dummett, de Bolle, Parkinson
Goals: 1-0 Füllkrug (Sabitzer, 26), 2-0 Brandt (Adeyemi, 79)
Corners: 8-4 (2-3 at half-time), chance ratio: 6-4 (3-1)
Referee: Hernandez (Spain), yellow card: – Hall
Attendance: 81,365 (sold-out), weather: dry, 9 degrees