In the final match before the international break, Dortmund travelled to Hamburg to face the newly promoted but historic North German side. Dortmund were in charge of possession for the entirety of the match,
regularly winning the ball back through their high press, but they failed to really break down Hamburg’s defense. Carney Chukwuemeka’s strike came after some pinball around the Hamburg box, but otherwise, Dortmund did not put their possession to good use over ninety minutes.
Hamburg equalized with all bodies forward deep into stoppage time to spoil the show for Niko Kovac, who opted for the defensive route once again. Given the lack of quality Hamburg had shown over the course of the match, one has to wonder if pressing for the insurance goal would have been a better route than closing up shop, especially as Fabio Silva spent ninety minutes on the bench. An enormous opportunity for Dortmund goes wasted.
Here are today’s candidates for Man of the Match.
Carney Chukwuemeka
Scored a wonderful volley to put Dortmund in front, and was the main creative outlet for BVB for most of the game. Still, his game looked unpolished, with some wayward runs and passes that his teammates did not seem to be tracking. It was good to see Carney play almost ninety minutes.
Nico Schlotterbeck
Defended as well as ever, deploying in his favorite position on the left of the defensive trident. He will be extremely frustrated to have been beaten for the game-tying goal.
Daniel Svensson
Svensson had a few great attacking movements in this game, finding himself in the box with an early shot on goal, and creating the chaos for what would ultimately be Carney Chukwuemeka’s goal. Svensson and Chukwuemeka seem to have a good sense of how they want to play together, but their interchange currently lacks pace and incisiveness.
Serhou Guirassy
I dunno, I don’t really think anyone else on the field had an especially good game, and I’m not willing to reward any other defenders given the way Hamburg scored. Guirassy was on the receiving end of about 150 fouls (none of which were booked) as he used his physicality to win BVB attacking opportunities up the pitch. He also kept his head, avoiding a booking for himself by not getting frustrated. A really difficult game for the Guinean overall.
Let us know in the comments what you thought of the players and the match.
