Hurricane-strength Guirassy gives birth to the puzzling entity known as BVB.
Borussia Dortmund was teetering on the brink of disaster, with one foot already dangling over the edge of an impending chasm. But then, star striker Serhou Guirassy stepped up his game. The BVB managed to win the local Derby against VfL Bochum convincingly, albeit in an unusual manner.
When Myron Boadu charged towards the southern stand in the 33rd minute, a sense of terror filled the Dortmund stadium. With a 2-0 lead in their possession, the Bochum striker was making his way alone towards the Borussia goal, guarded by keeper Gregor Kobel. With a considerable distance, the Dutchman had a small army of desperately sprinting Schwarzgelben in his wake. The scene bore a resemblance to a 1920s film. A cheeky thief outsmarted the embarrassingly outwitted policemen. Amusing, yes, but no one was amused. Boadu managed to kick the ball just past the Dortmund goal. He let go of the catch before the substantial profit could be logged. The Bochum fans were stunned, the Borussians were at a loss. They stumbled like drunks into the abyss, but didn't fall.
If the VfL attacker had aimed a bit more accurately, the stadium would likely have erupted. The next disaster was just a near-miss away. And the aftershocks would have been even more powerful than those following the fiasco that BVB experienced at VfB Stuttgart the previous Sunday (1-5). Because the Swabians can be considered a top team. The Bochum team, not so much. They are once again battling for survival in the Bundesliga. They drew 2-2 against Holstein Kiel at home, which was their first point of the season, but came with the question of whether this team can win a game in this Bundesliga season at all. An insight of the evening: If they play like that, then yes. "That can also go south quickly. If the third goal falls, then we have a big problem," said Borussia coach Nuri Sahin after an exhilarating and captivating small Derby that his team actually won 4-2 (1-2) on this damp Friday evening.
With this chaotic victory, Dortmund manages to sidestep two debates that would have been sparked by a different outcome of the game: First, the Dortmund team does not have a mental problem, and second, Sahin does not have to endure as much scrutiny as feared. But a relaxing week is not in store for Dortmund despite this, not only because of commitments against Celtic Glasgow in the Champions League and then in Berlin against Union. Dortmund has a lot of work to do again after this chaotic evening.
A stunning attack and a sudden turnaround, Bochum leads
Under the week, Sahin assured that the right lessons were learned from the Stuttgart game. But exactly what that meant in practical implementation was unclear for now. The Schwarzgelben were nowhere close to a thunderous comeback. The ball was being passed back and forth, but it wasn't leading to any creative input. Suddenly, the Bochum team sprang into action. Maximilian Wittek passed to Matus Bero, who immediately returned the ball to Philipp Hofmann, who passed it back to Bero. Slovakia's finest showcased Tiki-Taka at its finest, completing the sequence with a shot full of conviction. The Bochum fans were ecstatic. Over 8000 had traveled with them, had released an abundance of blue smoke at the kickoff, and were now celebrating (16.).
And it only got better from their perspective. Boadu harassed Kobel, who had not been given a clean pass by Nico Schlotterbeck. The goalkeeper tried to dribble and lost the ball. Dani de Wit, whose role in Bochum has been the topic of much discussion, was perfectly positioned and slammed the loose ball into the empty net - 0-2 (21.), oh boy! Should the no-nonsense playing crisis club from the neighborhood actually manage to elevate itself in this imposing citadel? Should the club leave behind all debates about lineups and systems in the black and yellow land? As Boadu ran, it seemed so. "Pride is a big word, but I was very satisfied with many aspects," said the passionate coach Peter Zeidler later. "We delivered what we set out to do, defending with passion, playing bravely forward, and even having phases with the ball."
The audience booed loudly. Anger over their team's chaotic performance mixed with panic. Things were supposed to improve this season. The team was supposed to appear more solid, better balanced. Intense going forward, attentive at the back. The Terzić football that they struggled to adopt in the city should be quickly forgotten. Their black and yellow boy Nuri should help them forget their black and yellow boy Edin. But what the crowd in the stadium saw was desperate, nothing-goes-right football. But the boos didn't last long, they roused their team. Serhou Guirassy took charge, who had been skillfully contained by the young Tim Oermann for a long time. The super striker found Julian Brandt free, who shot over the goal from close range. Then Guirassy took the shot himself. His shot struck the legs of the powerful Felix Passlack (43.), his header found the goal (44.). The guests' intensity had waned briefly, and the punishment followed swiftly.
Forgetaboutit with the 2:2, everything is temporarily on hold
Dortmund was back in the game. The beast that this relentless offensive can unleash was awakened. Pascal Groß stumbled once again against goalkeeper Patrick Drewes at a Passlack pass. The ex-defender, who turned pro at BVB and played in his old stomping grounds for the first time wearing a foreign jersey, was everywhere. Unfortunately for Bochum, even near Guirassy's feet. A penalty was called, and captain Emre Can confidently converted (62.). The south stand erupted, and the fans sang: "Only BVB, our whole life, our whole pride..." Suddenly, everything was put on hold, what phase it was. The cramps, the mistakes, the looming disaster. That their team was still a potential top-tier squad, they could overlook. And the show wasn't over yet.
Guirassy was now in full swing. Like a high-performance sports car on the B1 at night, he picked up speed and BVB with him. Adeyemi played a flawless pass, and the summer's prize transfer, who had been injured for a long time, made it look effortless, 3:2 (75.). "Serhou is fantastic. It's great to have a forward you can always rely on," praised Can. "He's always reliable for a goal, and Serhou will hopefully score a few more for us. It's a solid start."
Now, everything was put on hold. The stomach-churning dread from the 33rd minute was pushed away with a powerful kick into another time zone. That the Bochum players actually had a better phase, and Moritz Broschinski missed the chance to regain the lead, the crowd generously looked the other way. The guests were now not gasping for breath, but drained mentally as well. The victory was so close, but now their hands were empty. And the Dortmund players continued to race across the pitch at breakneck speed.
Substitute Felix Nmecha scored, but the ball went into the net mainly because the strong keeper Drews let it slip through, 4:2 (81st) it stood. "No one in the stadium knew exactly what happened at the beginning. We were suddenly 0:2 behind," said Can on Dazn. "Here with the fans, anything is possible, we showed that again today. But it shouldn't start only after a 0:2." The team showed "grit."
And it could have been even better, but Guirassy missed another chance. Can himself hit the post once, Julien Duranville came close. The young Belgian came on after 66 minutes for the struggling Jamie Gittens. And he suggested that BVB has a new star player in its incredible talented offense. The 18-year-old's start is impressive, his ball control a joy, and his eye for his teammates already well-developed. But the attack is not the main issue for Borussia, even if the creative play still needs improvement. It was the pace and individual superiority that decided the derby in favor of black and yellow.
The defense, the defense ...
The problematic area is the shaky defense, and not just the sometimes overlooked backup defense. Against Bochum's pressure, there were significant challenges. The south stand muttered nervously and held their breath as Schlotterbeck and company tried to escape through short passes. That had an edgy vibe to it. The goalkeeper Kobel got nervous again, but remained resilient. If there hadn't been the Bochum players on the pitch, but a top team, it could have turned ugly. "You can be short-handed at the back with four men, but if you don't tackle, if you don't attack and penetrate, then we have problems. It's this process we're discussing," said Sahin.
In this process, the coach already saw progress against Bochum. Like goalkeeper Kobel, who thanked his team's outstanding performance for his mistake not leading to a disaster on the old Westfalen stadium's dark days. That his team danced like an unsteady drunk on the edge, the Swiss didn't views as particularly critical. It happens that an opponent creates scoring chances, after all, it's the Bundesliga, he found. Meanwhile, coach Sahin was particularly pleased with his team's "clarity" after the setback. "We keep pushing and try again." That's important to be successful, as the young coach explained, referencing champions Bayer Leverkusen, who have done exactly that "last and this year." An unexpectedly huge comparison on a night that was so close to the edge.
Nuri Sahin praised his team's performance after the chaotic Derby, stating that they delivered with passion and bravery, and even had phases where they controlled the ball (as per the text).
Despite Bochum's improved performance and several missed opportunities, Nuri Sahin's Borussia Dortmund managed to come back and win the game 4-2, thanks in part to star striker Serhou Guirassy's outstanding performance (as per the text).
