BVB show passion and character in 3-3 draw by the Main

Carney Chukwuemeka scored the final goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time to make it 3–3, but the Dortmund camp could only be moderately pleased with the result. “We’re sitting in the dressing room discussing how we dropped two points,” reported managing director Lars Ricken after the final whistle, adding: “But the way we played was really good.”

Match reactions: “An advert for football”

The Black & Yellows dominated the match, recording 57% possession and 16 shots (the home team had 12). Both teams fought intensely in the challenges, with a total of 198 tackles, and didn't give each other an inch. The visitors took the lead twice, through Maxi Beier in the early stages and Felix Nmecha in the 68th minute. And they almost did so a third time, but Nico Schlotterbeck’s header in the 90th minute crashed against the crossbar. And then it was one thing after another: with a slightly deflected effort late on Friday evening, former Borussia player Mo Dahoud seemed to have turned the last 20 minutes on their head with the goal to make it 3-2 (90+2). But then Carney Chukwuemeka was in the right place at the right time and pushed Marcel Sabitzer’s cross over the line to make it 3-3.

“A wild game. We controlled it for the most part. But in the end, it was too wild. When you control the game like that and they score almost every chance, it’s bitter,” lamented Felix Nmecha, but added: “We showed passion and character not to lose the game.”

“A win would have been deserved, but at least the 3-3 draw was really deserved by the team,” added Lars Ricken, and Julian Ryerson expressed what Fußball-Dortmund thought about the point gained and the victory lost: “It’s good that we came back in injury time, but it’s two points too few. After going 2-1 up, we can’t immediately concede another goal.”

Sporting director Sebastian Kehl summed up in an interview with BVB-TV: “We had a lot of chances to score, especially in the second half.” At the same time, they “invited Frankfurt back into the game a little: an unfortunate penalty,” then a gap in the defence, “and in the end Mo Dahoud scored with his left foot, which he doesn’t do very often. Overall, we could have got more out of the game. I would have liked two more points.”

The Black & Yellows will have a chance to make up for their missed opportunity in the coming week. “Now we have two home games,” Ricken emphasised: “Then we’ll see how much that point was worth in the end.” Kehl added: “We could have taken a big step forward. Hopefully we’ll do that on Tuesday against Werder Bremen and on Saturday against St. Pauli to stay in second place in the table.”Boris Rupert