2024-08-25 06:55:35
In front of a sold-out crowd, BVB celebrates a victory in their opening match. The decisive goal comes late, but is all the more beautiful for it.
Borussia Dortmund won the top match against Eintracht Frankfurt at the start of the Bundesliga. Coach Nuri Şahin’s team won 2-0 (0-0) at home. Jamie Gittens scored the decisive goal in the 72nd minute after a great individual performance.
The 20-year-old winger dribbled into the penalty area, danced past his opponent with a stepover and curled the ball under the crossbar. Coach Şahin proved to have a golden touch, as Gittens had only been substituted on 13 minutes earlier.
In injury time, the Englishman crowned his performance with the 2-0 after a well-played counterattack.
With 30 degrees and bright sunshine, all eyes were naturally on the new man on the sidelines. Compared to the 4:1 cup win against regional league team Phoenix Lübeck, Şahin only changed one position, Donyell Malen played for Gittens. Waldemar Anton and Pascal Groß also celebrated their debut in the starting eleven in front of the “Yellow Wall”.
In addition to Şahin, special attention was also paid to Felix Zwayer, who was refereeing a Dortmund match for the first time since the 2-3 defeat to Bayern on December 4, 2021. The then BVB star Jude Bellingham had harshly attacked the referee after the match, thereby inflaming the atmosphere. Zwayer took a break, and upon his return the DFB decided that he would not referee any more BVB matches for the time being.
Now Zwayer was refereeing another Borussia match – but he wasn’t the main focus. While BVB tried to keep possession of the ball, Eintracht tried to press early. This worked well, but Dortmund lacked ideas going forward.
And so compelling chances remained in short supply, which Şahin did not like. He was constantly standing in his coaching zone, gesticulating wildly and giving instructions to his team. But even after a drink break, the Champions League finalists’ lethargic play continued. BVB repeatedly lost the ball and remained far too harmless.
Shortly before half-time, Zwayer suddenly came to the fore: After a header from Anton, the BVB fans called for a handball penalty against Fares Chaibi. But the ball first hit the Frankfurt player’s head.
At the start of the second half, the fans in the south stand displayed numerous banners against the controversial advertising deal with Rheinmetall. But then the focus quickly turned back to the sporting aspect – because BVB was now there. A shot from Julian Brandt just went over the goal (49th minute). On the other side, Omar Marmoush was stopped by Gregor Kobel (57th minute).
Shortly afterwards, Maximilian Beier also celebrated his home game debut in the BVB jersey. The guests had the best chance, but Chaibi missed from close range. Instead, Gittens celebrated in return after a fantastic shot. And then secured the victory in injury time.