Freiburg has no chance in Dortmund
BVB double packer strikes before and after the break
February 9, 2024, 10:33 p.m
Fan protests are also causing a forced break at the start of the 21st Bundesliga matchday. But that doesn’t impress Borussia Dortmund as the Black and Yellows remain undefeated for the seventh time in a row. Two BVB strikers excel against SC Freiburg.
Despite renewed fan protests, Borussia Dortmund has shot its favorite opponent SC Freiburg out of the stadium and is firmly in the Champions League places. A brace from the outstanding Donyell Malen and a birthday goal from national player Niclas Füllkrug gave BVB a 3-0 (2-0), their sixth home win against Freiburg in a row and, at least temporarily, four points ahead of fifth-place Rasenballsport Leipzig.
“I wanted a victory for my birthday, maybe a little cupcake, and that was part of it,” said Füllkrug after the game on DAZN and announced: “I’m giving out a meal next week and we’ll order it into the dressing room. We deserved to win and could have scored one or two more goals.”
Even a ten-minute break in the game did not upset the runner-up in front of 81,365 spectators. Chocolate coins and tennis balls flew onto the pitch from the corners of the south stand in the first half, the fans vented their anger at the impending entry of an investor, as is currently the case in many German football stadiums. Malen scored his eight and nine goals of the season once before and once after the compulsory break (16th/45th+7), and later the visiting fans also caused short interruptions. Shortly before the end, Füllkrug (87th), who had previously set up Malen’s goal, was also rewarded on his 31st birthday.
The people of Freiburg could have saved themselves the journey of around 500 kilometers. The SCF had lost five times in a row in Dortmund (2:17 goals), and is now without a point in 15 of the last 16 games – the last win at BVB was on October 12, 2001 (2:0). Freiburg goalscorer: current BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl.
No investor, no sell-off, no lack of transparency
On a mild evening, he was pleased to note that his coach Edin Terzić’s personnel problems had largely resolved themselves. Gregor Kobel took his regular place in goal again, and Marco Reus and Julian Ryerson also returned to the starting line-up. Julian Brandt, Karim Adeyemi and the returnee Jadon Sancho were at least back on the bench, but Salih Öczan was absent due to illness.
“We can and must play much better football to achieve our goals,” Terzić told his team. But BVB started slowly, broke off attacks despite good attempts and had problems outplaying Freiburg’s last line. The first chance came from an overhead kick from Malen (13th), who three minutes later in the penalty area hit the corner from a turn through two opponents. The guests had previously given the ball away too quickly after winning it, which happened to them often – shortly afterwards they had to replace the injured central defender Manuel Gulde with Attila Szalai.
The almost ritualized interruption followed in the 36th minute: stewards routinely cleared the lawn with leaf blowers and shovels of snow, the fans had conveyed their message on many banners: no investor, no sell-out, no lack of transparency. After ten minutes, things continued with a bang: Malen’s low shot from eleven meters at the end of a counterattack over Niclas Füllkrug was unstoppable for Noah Atubolu in the Freiburg goal. With a free kick, Malen almost set up a third goal for Ryerson before halftime.
Füllkrug (53′) should have decided the game from close range at the latest – then the balls flew out of the visitors’ block. The Freiburg team tried hard, but they never found their way into the game. Instead, Ian Maatsen missed further chances with a shot off the post (72′) and Reus from close range (75′).