Following Bayern Munich’s win against Eintracht Frankfurt, the pressure was on Borussia Dortmund to get a result against RB Leipzig.
In such an important game in the context of Dortmund’s season, this was not the time for Niko Kovac’s side to struggle defensively.
Leipzig saw a large portion of their chances come from the flanks, with both Yan Diomande and Brajan Gruda causing issues for the likes of Julian Ryerson and Daniel Svensson. When the wingers were able to put a cross in, the centre-backs would struggle to deal with clearing the ball, and that is how both of Leipzig’s goals were scored, in near identical fashion
Diomande was left one-on-one with Ryerson, managed to get to the byline and play a cross in which Christoph Baumgartner was able to divert in. The second time, it would be Raum who played the ball in, with the Austrian again at the end of it for his second of the game and to double Leipzig’s lead.
Dortmund were a much better side in the second half, and got themselves back into the game when a Ryerson corner was turned into the net by Romulo for an own goal to make it 2-1.
The game would then transcend into a basketball game as Niko Kovac’s side looked for an equaliser, and the hosts were looking to extend their lead with Diomande being the source for most of Leipzig’s attacks in the second half.
After several rather underwhelming substitutions from the visitors, it was a substitute who rescued a point when Fabio Silva’s goal in the 95th minute made it 2-2.
Before Silva’s goal, the gap between first and second was nine points; after the goal, it dropped down to…eight.
The point is not good enough for any hope of Dortmund competing for the title. If you said a BVB title was at around 20% before this matchday, it has dropped down to 5% now. Kovac’s side will have to win next week against Bayern to bring the gap down to five points, then be perfect for the rest of the season and hope the league leaders drop points at least two more times.
Considering how Dortmund have ridden their luck for most of this season, especially in recent weeks, this is not likely.
The title race was ulitmately a pipe dream, and it was really just the friends we made along the way.
RB Leipzig:
Maarten Vandevoordt (6), Ridle Baku (6), Castello Lukeba (5), Willi Orban (6), David Raum (6), Nicolas Seiwald (5) Xaver Schlager (5), Christoph Baumgartner (8), Brajan Gruda (7), Romulo (5), Yan Diomande (7)
Substitutes: Antonio Nusa (5), Conrad Harder (-), Ezechiel Banzuzi (-), Benjamin Henrichs (-), Max Finkgräfe (-)
Borussia Dortmund:
Gregor Kobel (6), Luca Reggiani (5), Waldemar Anton (5), Ramy Bensebaini (5), Julian Ryerson (6), Felix Nmecha (5), Marcel Sabitzer (5), Daniel Svensson (5), Maximilian Beier (6), Jobe Bellingham (6), Serhou Guirassy (5)
Substitutes: Julian Brandt (5), Yan Couto (5), Carney Chukwuemeka (5), Fabio Silva (6), Karim Adeyemi (5)
GGFN Player of the Match: Christoph Baumgartner (8)
The Austrian continues his incredible season with a first-half double. Baumgartner has made a habit of crashing the box from midfield for Leipzig this season, and he showed that again today, constantly appearing in positions a striker would usually be in.
The 26-year-old now has 10 goals and six assists in 21 games for Leipzig, and has found a new lease of life under Ole Werner, after being freed from the shackles of being shoehorned to fit in Xavi Simons, Loïs Openda and Benjamin Seško.
GGFN | Jack Meenan