Borussia Dortmund’s mini rut keeps intact, as the Black and Yellows were once again held by Eintracht Frankfurt at the Commerzbank Arena on Saturday. Prior to the match, Dortmund had managed only win in their previous seven fixtures at Frankfurt against Eintracht and that terrible run will also remain intact at the Commerzbank Arena this weekend.
It was an enthralling game to watch as both sides showed amazing firepower to create chances, which perfectly balanced the game. Dortmund’s high defensive line resulted in a lot of chances for Frankfurt while Dortmund, themselves done amazingly well to carve out chances against a sturdy Frankfurt defence.
Here are Dortmund players rated in their disappointing draw with Frankfurt.
Roman Burki (7.5/10): Coming on the back of some harsh criticism after his wretched performance in midweek, Burki made some great saves, to keep his side in the contest. While he had nothing to blame for the two Dortmund conceded against Frankfurt.
Marc Bartra (7.5/10): It was a weird game for Marc Bartra, who started the game as a right back. The former Barcelona man was very impressive in the first half. However, Bartra looked very much troubled as soon as he moved to the CB position later in the second half. Some terrible defending help the home side put in two goals against Dortmund.
Julian Weigl (6.5/10): It turned out to be a terrible idea to deploy Julian Weigl as a centre back. The young midfielder looked hapless in his positioning and was clearly struggling to keep up with the pacy Eintracht attackers.
Neven Subotic (7/10): Looked composing in the first half but got terribly outmuscled by the Frankfurt attackers, preferably Sebastien Haller, for the most part of the second half.
Jeremy Toljan (6.5/10): An awful game for the former TSG fullback. Toljan struggles to get involved in the offensive play and was equally terrible in defence.
Nuri Sahin (7/10): Failed to provide apt cover for the defensive backline, which eventually led to a lot of spaces being available for the Frankfurt players in the central areas of the pitch. However, his early goal proved to be the spark which needed to light up this excellent game of football. Should have scored another in the final minute of the game, when his shot was blocked off by Makoto Hasebe from the goal line.
Gonzalo Castro (6.5/10): An absolutely terrible performance from the former Leverkusen midfielder. Castro made a lot of fans yearn for Sebastian Rode, who is thought to be the most useless player in the current BVB squad.
Christian Pulisic (8/10): His tenacity helped him influence the game throughout the ninety minutes. Pulisic was definitely a bright spark in attack but was often lacking support from fellow teammates.
Mario Gotze (7.5/10): Looked very good on the ball, especially with his passing and clever flicks. Gotze almost looked untouchable in the first half, but his performance deteriorated in the second half, however.
Maximilian Philipp (8.5/10): By far Dortmund’s best attacker on the day, Maximilian Philipp was very impressive everytime he got onto the ball. He got in behind the defence, did some clever flicks and most importantly, scored the second goal for BVB in the second half, which, subsequently, was his fifth goal of the season.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (6.5/10): An absolutely awful display from the Gabonese striker. Aubameyang not only spurned two big chances but was also non-existent in the attack throughout the game.
Subs
Shinji Kagawa (6.5/10): Failed to impose freshness after coming on for Gonzalo Castro in the second half. Kagawa was quite slow to deal with Frankfurt’s high octane pressing.
Dan-Axel Zagadou (6.5/10): Was part of the massive defensive calamity from Dortmund in the second half. Zagadou let Ante Rebic get in behind time and time again in the second half, and his lack of pace didn’t help his cause either.
Jadon Sancho (NA): Made his debut in the Bundesliga when he was subbed on for a tired Maximilian Philipp in the 82nd minute. Sancho tried some tricks but was unable to get past Jetro Willems on the flanks. Came really close to scoring the winner, when his shot was saved by Lukas Hradecky in the dying moments of the game.
