Freiburg 0-0 Borussia Dortmund: Visitors Suffer Blow as Two Players Get Injured in Goalless Draw

SC Freiburg took on Borussia Dortmund at the Dreisamstadion on Saturday afternoon after a long week of international break from the Bundesliga. The visitors looked to have come in strong form with two wins to start the season, whilst the hosts lost and drew their pair of games. 

The first half saw Dortmund dominate over the home side with their possession play, but the first major moment of note in the match wasn't goalmouth action - rather an injury for Spanish defender Mark Bartra, substituted for Omer Toprak just after the 20-minute mark. 

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For the next 10 minutes, Freiburg applied the pressure to Dortmund as their players continued to tackle the visitors. Dortmund received another major blow in the just before the half-hour mark as Freiburg's Yoric Ravet landed a heavy tackle on Dortmund captain Marcel Schmelzer. 

Ravet was initially shown a yellow card by the on-pitch referee - but was sent off shortly afterwards after consultation with the Video Assistant Referee, the first player in the Bundesliga to be dismissed in such a manner. 

An injured Schmelzer was substituted off for Dan-Axel Zagadou in the 31st minute. Attempts from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mario Gotze weren't enough to break the first half deadlock as both teams went into half time goalless. 

For the next 30 minutes of the second half, Dortmund tried to apply pressure in attack with shot attempts from Aubameyang, Gotze, Toprak, Zagadou, Nuri Sahin, Christian Pulisic and Maximilian Philipp. Freiburg's defence as well as missed chances at target from Dortmund saved the hosts from conceding in an action-packed second half. With 80% possession and 18 shots by the 66th minute, Dortmund were indeed dominating, but still lacked in something.  

The rest of the match maintained fairly stable until the end. A chance from Lukas Piszcek sent Dortmund fans wild as he could've converted a header into the goal that would break the tight lock. The game was delayed in stoppage time due to an injury sustained by Piszcek. The match ended 0-0 at the Dreisamstadion.