Borussia Dortmund kept a cool head in a fierce game at VfL Bochum and on Wednesday (February 8th, 2023) they made it into the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup with a 2-1 (1-0) away win.
Emre Can brought BVB into the lead with a curious hit from almost 50 meters almost at the break whistle. Bochum’s Kevin Stöger equalized with a controversial hand penalty that was tested for almost five minutes before Marco Reus scored the winning goal for Borussia.
“I don’t think Dortmund deserved to win”said Stöger after the game on the sports show microphone, “I think that was a great game. Dortmund played well to make it 2-1.”
“The disappointment in the team is at the limit”Christopher Antwi-Adjei described the mood at VfL after the game, “We had chances, including me, and of course one of them has to go in.”
BVB goalkeeper Kobel: “It wasn’t a magic game”
Of course there was satisfaction at Borussia. “It wasn’t magic”summarized keeper Gregor Kobel, “But in the end we created our chances up front.”
The first chance of the game developed through Julian Brandt: whose pass half right put Sebastién Haller in the perfect shooting position. Haller took aim immediately, the ball swung powerfully and clearly over the box (7th minute).
It was also Haller who missed the next huge opportunity for Dortmund: After a counterattack in which BVB happily retained possession three times, Jude Bellingham served the Ivorian perfectly in the half-right penalty area. But because Haller slipped his supporting leg when he shot, the ball went back to the VfL fans.
Riemann’s dropout brings BVB the 1-0
The fight in particular kept VfL in the game: The hosts didn’t give Dortmund, who were better positioned individually, any space and gave the “magicians” with Brandt and Co. little time for their tricks.
VfL keeper Manuel Riemann completed a safe game in the first half of the game and made two strong saves against Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (foot defence, 14′) and a Brandt free-kick (25′). But shortly before the break, the goalkeeper made a mistake: Riemann carefully cleared Haller well in front of his penalty area and hit the ball into midfield – but too low and above all: to the opponent.
Can intercepted the ball, placed it in front of himself and measured the goal 50 meters away. Riemann rushed after the shot, but couldn’t prevent the impact of the precisely kicked ball. “First contact was crucial”Sagittarius Can said after the game, “But it wasn’t until the first defender flew by that I knew: ‘Okay, this is going to be interesting.’ It was lucky that the ball went in.”
Antwi-Adjei has a huge chance to equalise
The second half was less than ten minutes old when Antwi-Adjei, symptomatic of Bochum’s game that evening, missed the huge opportunity to equalize. Having started perfectly in the middle, the Bochum attacker raced towards Kobel, but didn’t go around the keeper but held onto it. Kobel stayed cool and parried (54′).
Four minutes later, Kobel made another save from Antwi-Adjei: this time the striker tried to get past the keeper on the right, but Kobel fished the ball off the Ghanaian’s foot.
In the 64th minute, Bochum finally equalized, with which Bochum rewarded their never-ending commitment: after Bynoe-Gittens shot a handball on the edge of the penalty area, referee Tobias Sippel allowed almost five minutes to discuss with his VAR Tobias Welz. After studying the video images in detail, the team decided on handball in the 16. Stöger transformed brilliantly central.
Özcan with a fine foot, Bellingham with the perfect view
But the joy of the hosts did not last long. Dortmund’s coach Edin Terzic reacted to the equalizer and brought in two fresh attackers in Marco Reus and Anthony Modeste – and promptly replaced the next goal scorer. After a counterattack, which Salih Özcan initiated with a precision pass, Reus sprinted centrally with the starting Bellingham. Bellingham served Reus, who ran free in front of the Bochum goal, with the next pass from the textbook – BVB led 2-1 thanks to their greater footballing skills.
Bochum’s coach Thomas Letsch tried to give Moritz Broschinski another decisive impulse in the final phase, at least to equalize. Bochum threw everything forward again. But although Riemann tried his luck as a striker from the 90th minute and went forward more often, the brave Bochumers were denied an equalizer in the six-minute stoppage time. On the other hand, Bellingham missed the goal in front of goalkeeper Riemann, who was always top-oriented except for this one scene.
Bochum in Munich, Dortmund near Werder
VfL Bochum will face what is probably their toughest away game of the season against Bayern Munich next Saturday (11.02.23, 3.30 p.m.). At the same time, Dortmund are visiting Werder Bremen in the opposite direction.