Borussia Dortmund Caught Out Again By Diligent Werder Bremen
Borussia Dortmund’s awful winless run in the Bundesliga was extended to eight matches after suffering a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Florian Kohfeldt's relegation-threatened Werder Bremen.
The hosts were caught by surprise at Bremen’s energetic and relentless pressing, something that proved vital in giving the visitors a deserved first-half lead. Despite an apparent second-half comeback, die Schwarzgelben crumbled under the pressure and were forced to endure another Bundesliga defeat.
Bremen captain Zlatko Junuzović was the first player to have a pop at goal, with his left-footed effort floating harmlessly over the top of the crossbar.
The Austrian then broke away to set up top-scorer Max Kruse just minutes later, however, the German's shot was saved well by Roman Bürki.
Werder Bremen finally got their breakthrough just before the half-hour mark when Maximilian Eggestein found the ball at his feet at an improbable angle.
After creating half a yard of space to open up a chance on his left foot, the 21-year-old sent the ball flying into the far corner of Bürki's net to score his second career goal in the Bundesliga.
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Dortmund continued to invite pressure onto their goal for the remainder of the first half, with Max Kruse having a sighter on more than one occasion, and the home side were met with a chorus of whistles at half-time.
Shinji Kagawa and André Schürrle wasted no time in trying to get Dortmund back into the game after the restart, with just the impressive Jiří Pavlenka keeping die Werderaner in front.
However, Dortmund's early second-half pressure eventually paid off when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang bundled home his 12th goal of the season.
A beautiful cross from Marcel Schmelzer was headed back into the danger area by Kagawa, with Aubamayang getting enough on the ball to see it cross the line just out of the reach of a scrambling Pavlenka.
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Despite forcing a Max Kruse effort wide of the far post, Roman Bürki was once again picking the ball out of the back of his net from the resulting corner.
Gebre Selassie was unmarked and headed the ball underneath the goalkeeper to restore Bremen's lead at the Westfallenstadion, forcing the home crowd to turn on their side once again.
Kagawa continued to cause Bremen problems and the Japanese international could have brought Dortmund back on level terms. However, his close-range effort deflected off the back of Aubameyang and sailed over the bar. Borussia Dortmund continued to knock on the door for the remainder of the match but they were unable to create enough chances to rescue a point.
Werder Bremen were largely forced to sit back and catch the hosts on the counter-attack, although with keeping Dortmund out their main goal in the closing stages of the match, Max Kruse was often isolated in attacking areas.
