BVB continued its race to catch up in the title race. Benefiting from an early dismissal against SC Freiburg, Borussia Dortmund ultimately won 5-1 (1-1) and celebrated their fourth win in the fourth game after the winter break.
Former Freiburg player Nico Schlotterbeck (26th) scored the opening goal for Dortmund, who were outnumbered after an early dismissal against Freiburg’s Kiliann Sildillia (17th).
Lucas Höler equalized just before the break (45′).
With a double strike by Karim Adeyemi (48th) and Sébastien Haller (51st), who scored his first goal for BVB after surviving cancer, BVB made things clear shortly after the break. In addition, Julian Brandt (69th) scored from a distance, which is worth seeing. Joker Giovanni Reyna (82nd) also stabbed.
Freiburg coach Christian Streich saw the yellow-red card (77th) to wake Meckerns.
BVB climbed to third place in the table and initially drew level with FC Bayern Munich on points (37).
Adeyemi wasn’t just one of the game’s winners because of his goal. Click here for the grades and individual reviews of the BVB players.
Haller was overjoyed after his goal. Here’s the news.
BVB – SC Freiburg: The analysis
At BVB, captain Marco Reus celebrated his comeback in the starting XI after 140 days, replacing the suspended Salih Özcan in the starting XI. In Edin Terzic’s recently favored 4-1-4-1 basic formation, Reus acted centrally next to Bellingham in the eight positions, Can acted as the sole six. Guerreiro replaced Ryerson, who was ill, at the back left of the back four. Like in the last two games, Freiburg’s coach Streich relied on a three-man/five-man defensive line. Grifo was in the starting XI for the first time this calendar year, Gregoritsch was only on the bench for the first time this season. Attacker Höler acted in Freiburg’s 3-4-3, atypically somewhat withdrawn in midfield.
In the early stages, Dortmund tried to mess things up in the Freiburg compactness with a lot of castling and initially created a few half-chances, but Flekken didn’t have to intervene. The first quarter of an hour was otherwise characterized by Dortmund corners, which all got stuck in the Freiburg defense. BVB exuded an overwhelming dominance, which increased after the early dismissal against Sildillia (17th).
After a long-range shot from Süle on the post (25th), Dortmund cracked the Freiburg bulwark after a corner, ex-Freiburger Schlotterbeck duped Flekken with a shot from a very acute angle. Freiburg, who switched to a 4-4-1 with a man down, then freed themselves somewhat from Dortmund’s grip – but BVB immediately tightened the reins again. From the game, however, the black and yellow found it difficult to create chances. That took revenge: Höler (45th) was the beneficiary after Schlotterbeck could not consistently separate Doan from the ball.
After the change of sides, Dortmund’s new quality in offensive standards paid off. First of all, BVB settled after a short corner at the Freiburg penalty area, Adeyemi (48th) finally completed after a one-two with Bellingham. Shortly thereafter, Haller (51′) took the stage, who headed in Guerreiro’s cross after a corner had just been clarified. BVB controlled everything from then on. The resistance of the decimated Freiburg was largely broken by the double neck blow after the break.
BVB – SC Freiburg: The voices
Edin Terzic (Borussia Dortmund coach): “We took control from the start, were very dominant and defended very clearly. The game was changed by yellow-red cards. In the second half we put in a really good performance against a team that was outnumbered, that was almost perfect. We barely let the opponent breathe.”
Christian Streich (Coach SC Freiburg): “We wanted to get into a good transition game, to maybe hurt Dortmund. Then there’s the yellow-red card. The problem today was that I didn’t feel proportionate. We weren’t good enough with the ball, some players were in a tackle not good enough, that’s why we lost 5-1.”
Sildillia’s dismissal was the first against a Freiburg player since November 2019. This ended a series of 109 league games without a dismissal for the Breisgauer.
The star of the game: Karim Adeyemi (BVB)
His goal debut last week was apparently the chest release: the winger presented Freiburg with enormous problems in the person of Sildillia, who was sent off early. Adeyemi later initiated the BVB victory, which was ultimately safe, with his goal to make it 2-1. With a top speed of 36.65 km/h, he also set a league-wide speed record. Here is the ranking of the fastest players of the season.
The flop of the match: Kiliann Sildillia (SC Freiburg)
The working day of the Freiburg full-back ended unexpectedly early. The Frenchman saw the traffic light card within two minutes. A tough decision by the referee, but Sildillia simply couldn’t get a grip on his agile opponent Adeyemi in the early stages, he only won 25 percent of his tackles.
The referee: Robert Schroeder
The 37-year-old from Hanover showed a very petty line from the start, which resulted in a hard traffic light card for Freiburg’s Sildillia after two fouls on Adeyemi (15th, 17th). As a result, the cards were loose. Freiburg’s coach Streich saw him thrown off the pitch for complaining.
