After an unconvincing victory in the derby against third-division Rot-Weiss Essen, Kovac and Dortmund turned their attention to their league opener against last season’s 14th-best team. Despite their lowly league position, St. Pauli had cultivated a reputation for defensive solidity, with only champions Bayern conceding fewer than their 41. You would be forgiven, then, for assuming that this one would be a gritty, low-scoring affair (much like our last three entanglements with them had been).
That
did not happen. Kovac made one change from the midweek, with Jobe Bellingham making his first competitive start in place of Nmecha, who had really struggled in the Pokal. This change made no difference as our approach in the first half was just as anaemic as it was against Essen, with the scoreboard operator only troubled once: by a superb Sabitzer cross that Guirassy headed home to make it 1-0. It should’ve been two just on the stroke of half-time, as a charging Adeyemi was brought down in the box, but Guirassy was unable to double his tally for the day, his poor penalty stopped by Pauli custodian Nikola Vasilj.
Two changes at half-time increased our intensity somewhat, but it St. Pauli levelled early into the half after a defensive clusterfail from us. The black and yellow boys continued to push, however, and retook the lead after a lovely team move after a poor free-kick found Waldemar Anton, who dispatched it via a significant deflection (they all count the same!!). The game looked to be wrapped up after a pinpoint Groẞ pass found Brandt’s clever run and the substitute displayed magnificent technique to put it away (seriously, go watch that touch and volley). In true Dortmund fashion, however, it was not meant to be, as Filippo Mané showed his inexperience by giving away a penalty and getting himself sent off in the process. Daniel Sinani stepped up and showed our number nine how it’s done, halving the deficit. Then, three minutes later, Pauli defender Eric Smith found some inspiration to skip past a feeble challenge and take advantage of slack defending from us to rocket one into the corner from 20 yards. Sensing they had the advantage against our ten men in the raucous Millerntor-Stadion, the home side pressed on in the ten(!) added minutes, with Kovac inexplicably not using all of his substitutes. 3-3 it finished, an absolute cracker for a neutral fan (which I most certainly am not). Here are your match ratings:
Starting XI
Gregor Kobel
Yash: 4
While I can’t fault Kobel for being unable to stop any of the three shots, his lack of comfort with the ball at his feet was apparent, as his poor pass to Svensson was the first in a chain of poor decisions that conceded us Pauli’s first. Also needed to be bailed out by Nmecha midway through the half for another poor pass. He did make a good save in the first half, though.
Ramy Bensebaini
Yash: 7
Put himself about well, and can be one of the few Dortmund players to feel like he left it all out on the pitch. Good both in and out of possession.
Waldemar Anton
Yash: 6.5
Nearly conceded us a goal in the first half, and didn’t look particularly solid throughout. Scored, however, which gives him a boost.
Filippo Mané
Yash: 2.5
Boy, this one hurts. He’s had to show real resilience to fight through injuries and wait a long time for his Bundesliga debut, and a moment of madness has completely undone him. Not going to fault him for being unable to stop the header for the first; the ball was inch-perfect, nowhere within his reach. However, the penalty was a show of immaturity more than anything else, and the red that followed unfortunately was probably the right decision (I was really annoyed, but the IFAB laws have it). Tough for this to happen, especially just as we’re about to sign another centre-back. Oh, well.
Daniel Svensson
Yash: 4
Watching it back, he did not slip on confetti in the sequence leading up to Pauli’s first goal. The poor clearance was (to me) a surprising lack of composure more than anything else. His deliveries from wide were also unusually poor. First time the Swede has left me feeling less than satisfied.
Marcel Sabitzer
Yash: 4.5
This is a tough one. Sabi made a beautiful assist for our first. Unfortunately, he was also caught ball-watching for our opponents’ first and third goals.
Pascal Groß
Yash: 7.5
Solid and industrious. Showed his vision and range of passing, picking up an assist.
Yan Couto
Yash: 4
Didn’t attack well, didn’t defend well, didn’t progress the ball well. Honestly forgot he was on the pitch.
Jobe Bellingham
Yash: 4
After some really tidy showings in the pre-season, Bellingham Jr.’s first competitive start did not go to plan. Didn’t really try to get himself involved, with the sum total of his 45 minutes a few cheap giveaways in midfield. I was more disappointed by his lack of movement, though. Deservedly hooked at half (though his parents might’ve disagreed). Still, early days for him.
Karim Adeyemi
Yash: 6
Won the penalty and nearly made an accidental assist, but wasn’t super involved, mainly due to the ball not really progressing through to him and Pauli defending too deep to make going long an option.
Serhou Guirassy
Yash: 4.5
A lot of you are going to disagree here. Plus points for the towering header that opened the scoring, minus points for the penalty miss and all the displays of poor control over bouncing balls (seriously, I didn’t see him take one down). It’s incredibly frustrating as well to watch him not go for (or get bullied on) aerials that aren’t 10o% his; he’s big enough to contest them, but just doesn’t look like he wants them enough.
Substitutes
Felix Nmecha
Yash: 7
Improved the team when he came on, and made an assist with a really good lay-0ff. Good decision-making from him.
Julian Brandt
Yash: 7.5
He and Nmecha instantly raised the team’s performance level, and that goal was a thing of beauty. Surprised he hasn’t started our first two games, but that was a strong claim for a spot in the XI.
Salih Özcan – N/A
Overall
Yash: 3.5
A six-goal thriller against a bottom-table side, featuring a red card and a late collapse? die Schwarzgelben are back, baby!
It didn’t look like we learned from the tough time we had against Essen in the Pokal, as the football remained stale, predictable, and lacking in intensity, especially without Brandt’s ability to create. Letting the game slip in the way it did hurts too, with all three goals attributable to individual errors or lapses in concentration. It was also rather confusing that Kovač chose not to bring on Beier for an injection of pace during injury time, as Guirassy was left chasing long balls in behind the high Pauli line that he had no hope of getting to. It’s not all bad, however; our tempo notably changed for the better after bringing on Nmecha and Brandt, which should give Kovač some direction going forward. It’s also good news that Ryerson is coming back to fitness; Couto has a long way to go before he matches our Norwegian machine’s performance levels. Overall, it can really only improve from here (famous last words, I know), with players due to come back from injury and new players yet to fully get into their groove. Early days.
Your Thoughts
How are we feeling about this one? How good were Smith and Brandt’s goals? Who impressed you the most? let us know!
