Borussia Dortmund’s final game of 2023 ended all square, as the Black & Yellows played out a 1-1 (1-1) draw with 1. FSV Mainz 05 at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK on Matchday 16 of the Bundesliga.
Boris Rupert reporting
The 13th home game in all competitions in the 2023/24 season was the first not to be played in front of a sell-out crowd. 80,350 fans turned out five days before Christmas Eve, and they were treated to an entertaining and committed BVB performance in the first half. Brandt scored a well-deserved opening goal in the 29th minute, then Bynoe-Gittens and Sabitzer both hit the woodwork, only for Mainz’s Sepp van den Berg to score with his team’s second opportunity of the game (43). The second half was tough-going from a BVB perspective. It looked like Reyna had scored a winner in the 90th minute, but it was called back for offside. .
The scenario:
Fifth against seventeenth. The team from the Rheinhessen had won just one of their 15 games this season, while the Westphalians had only managed to win one of their last seven. BVB had come out on top in each of their previous six away games in Mainz, but had only managed to pick up two home wins in the fixture in the same timeframe.
Personnel matters:
Adeyemi (ankle), Moukoko (fibre tear), Nmecha (hip) and Ryerson (knee) were all unavailable due to injury. Three days after the 1-1 draw in Augsburg, Hummels, after serving his suspension, and Sabitzer moved into the starting XI to replace Süle and Reus.Taktik:
Tactics:
Mainz lined up in a 3-4-2-1 formation and extended the defensive line into a back four or five when Dortmund had possession of the ball by moving widemen Widmer and/or Mwene into a four or five-man backline. The 05ers generally formed a 5-3-2 block in defence. BVB operated in a 4-2-3-1 with Sabitzer serving as a key link between defence and attack.
The match & analysis:
Constant pressure from Dortmund in the constant Dortmund rain. The flow of play only went in one direction in the first half: towards the South Stand, towards the visitors’ goal. Although Mainz defended aggressively, closing down the space as best they could, Borussia found gaps with sharp passes and created chances early on. Malen hit the outside of the net from an acute angle (6) and then failed to beat goalkeeper Batz from a similar position in the 11th minute. Not long afterwards , the ball fell to Hummels in his own penalty area, who got his head up and looked to initiate an attack. He picked out Sabitzer, who forwarded it to Füllkrug . The striker picked out Bynoe-Gittens, who pulled the trigger at full pelt from just outside the area, but could only hit the crossbar. Six minutes later, the Englishman had another go from range, but slipped just as he was getting off his shot, which caused the ball to drift narrowly wide of the right-hand post.
The ratio of shots on goal was 8:1 midway through the first half. A few minutes later, shot number ten made it 1-0. Sabitzer was fouled 20 metres out from the Mainz goal, in a half-left position. Brandt stepped up to take the free-kick and duly unleashed a vicious effort which dipped over the wall and crashed into the back of the net (29). BVB then showed no signs of letting up: in the 31st minute, Sabitzer became the second Borussia player to hit the woodwork with a long-range shot, while two minutes later, a powerful Füllkrug effort from the edge of the area was saved by Batz, who also did well to deny Sabitzer shortly before the break.
In between these two further big BVB chances, the visitors launched one of their few dangerous attacks – and found an equaliser. Firstly, Kobel palmed a tricky long-range shot from Richter away for a corner (42). Mwene delivered the set-piece from the left wing, van den Berg won the header in the six-yard box. Kobel managed to get something on the ball, but not before it crossed the line. After a first 45 minutes of one-way football, with 14 shots on goal to three, the scoreboard read 1-1 as the players trod off to the dressing room at the interval.
Hummels, who had won 91% of his challenges, made more tackles and had more touches of the ball than any other player on the park (68), was unable to continue. Süle replaced him at the start of the second half, which was initially dominated by the visitors. BVB were unable to replicate the impressive performance of the first 45 minutes. The game lost it’s flow, and became something of a scrappy midfield battle.
After just over an hour, Bamba and Haller came on for Bynoe-Gittens and Füllkrug, with Reyna replacing Schlotterbeck 20 minutes before the end. Until then, there had been only one real chance in the second half – and it fell to the away team. Richter had a free-kick opportunity from an almost identical position to Brandt’s opening goal, but he was unable to get the better of Kobel in the Dortmund net (68). Lee also had a dangerous shot for the visitors in the 82nd minute. Borussia had to play the final stages of the game a man down, as the substitute Haller had to come off after taking a knock from Burkardt.
In the 90th minute, Reyna headed Brandt’s free-kick into the back of the net, but the offside flag went up. Rightly so. Batz foiled any last hopes of three points for BVB when he saved Malen’s shot (90+5).
Outlook:
BVB will kick off 2024 with an away match at SV Darmstadt 98 on Saturday, 13 January, which is also the final fixture of the first half-season. Kick-off is scheduled for 18:30 CET.
Teams & goals
Bundesliga, Matchday 16
BORUSSIA DORTMUND 1–1 (1-1) 1. FSV MAINZ 05
Bor. Dortmund: Kobel – Meunier (81, Wolf), Hummels (46, Süle), Schlotterbeck (72, Reyna), Bensebaini – Sabitzer, Can – Malen, Brandt, Bynoe-Gittens (63, Bamba) – Füllkrug (63, Haller)
Mainz 05: Batz – van den Berg, Bell, Kohr – Widmer (90+2, da Costa), Krauss, Lee, Mwene – Gruda (69, Papela), Richter (69, Burkardt) – Onisiwo (90+2, Barkok)
Substitutes: Meyer, Morey, Özcan, Reus – Riess, Wilhelm, Mamutovic, Ajorque, Müller
Goals: 1-0 Brandt (29, free-kick, awarded for foul on Sabitzer), 1-1 van den Berg (43, Mwene)
Corners: 6-1 (2-1 at half-time), chance ratio: 7-6 (6-2)
Referee: Fritz (Korb), bookings: – Bell, Burkardt, Krauss, Barkok
Attendance: 80,350, weather: constant rain, seven degrees