In the new role as the hunted in the title race, Borussia Dortmund immediately stumbled – again with a relegation candidate. In the small Revierderby at VfL Bochum, BVB did not get more than 1: 1 (1: 1) and could lose the lead in the table again: With a win against bottom Hertha BSC, Bayern Munich would be record champions on Sunday (3:30 p.m. / DAZN) in Pass long-distance duel again.
The guests only managed to equalize in the B1 duel through Karim Adeyemi (7th) after Bochum’s early lead through Anthony Losilla (5th). Dortmund, who have not won away from home in six competitive games in a row, have recently dropped points at Schalke 04 and VfB Stuttgart. After four bankruptcies in five home games, VfL fought for an important point in the table basement.
BVB coach Edin Terzic replaced the injured Nico Schlotterbeck with Niklas Süle, otherwise he trusted the team that had taken the lead in the table with a 4-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt. Bochum’s coach Thomas Letsch only made two changes to the 5-1 home defeat against VfL Wolfsburg: Germany’s World Cup scare Takuma Asano and Cristian Gamboa made the starting XI.
The VfL fans swore the hosts with a choreo and subsequent blue and white fog once again to the final phase of the relegation battle. When the clouds of smoke cleared, the 26,000 spectators in the Ruhr Stadium couldn’t believe their eyes. After a failed defensive attempt by Dortmund, Losilla took aim from the edge of the penalty area and hit the corner of Bochum’s lead.
VfL Bochum – BVB: How can that not be a penalty?
But the relegation candidate didn’t have much time to celebrate, and the favorites answered promptly: Donyell Malen prevailed on the right, while in the middle Sebastien Haller tip-toed the goalscorer Adeyemi. After the wild start, BVB tried to bring some calm and order to the game. But Bochum fought back with a lot of fighting and tough duels.
If the guests played quickly and directly forward, VfL had big problems. Adeyemi alone had the opening goal on his feet three times (27th/31st/38th). On the other side, Asano (35th) and Philipp Hofmann (42nd) missed the possible 2:1.
After the break, Dortmund stepped up their attacking efforts, but Bochum’s defense initially proved more stable than in the first half. BVB vehemently demanded a penalty when Danilo Soares went to work hard in a duel in the penalty area against Adeyemi (65′). VfL managed less and less to put pinpricks on the offensive and to provide a little relief.
Substitute Marco Reus, who had extended his contract by a year on Thursday, also helped with Dortmund’s final offensive. Youssoufa Moukoko (75′) and Jude Bellingham (77′) were then denied by the strong Manuel Riemann in the VfL goal – and a goal by Mats Hummels was ruled out due to an offside position (90′).
