Borussia Dortmund held by ten-man Freiburg
Injuries to Marc Bartra and Marcel Schmelzer made a disappointing afternoon even worse for Borussia Dortmund against Freiburg.
Freiburg 0-0 Borussia Dortmund
Former Freiburg hero Maximilian Philipp was making his first return to the club since joining Dortmund in the summer, while Marcel Schmelzer was also back, returning from injury to captain the away side. But any happy returns quickly turned sour in a nightmare half of injuries for Peter Bosz. The first was Marc Bartra, who pulled up with a muscle injury, before Schmelzer had to be removed on a stretcher after a rash foul from Yoric Ravet, which the Freiburg forward subsequently saw red for, following a review from the Video Assistant.
Despite the forced changes, Dortmund dominated the match through, especially in the second half with the man advanatage. But Freiburg's defence stood firm, while Die Schwarzgelben gathered over 80 percent of possession. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did have the ball in the back of Freiburg's net with under 10 minutes to play, but the play was pulled back for a foul that had already been given on Sokratis, much to Dortmund's frustration.
Watch: Nuri Sahin laments Dortmund's lack of cutting edge
Man of the match
Caglar Söyüncü was a rock in the Freiburg defence when Christian Streich and his teammates needed him most. The Turkish international defender made eight tackles to drive his team forward, earning themselves a point despite being down to ten men since the 29th minute. Keeping a clean sheet against this Dortmund side is no mean feat, especially when also having one less player.
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Match stats
- This was the first time in thirteen matches that Dortmund have failed to beat Freiburg.Dortmund did not manage to win two consecutive away matches all last season.This is Freiburg's first ever clean sheet against DortmundAfter 50 Bundesliga games for Freiburg, Philipp faced his former club in Dortmund colours.
Watch: Alexander Schwolow praises Freiburg's game plan
Line-ups
Freiburg: Schwolow - Günter, Lienhart, Söyüncü, Kübler - Terrazzino (Stenzel 89'), Abrashi, Sierro (Frantz 43'), Ravet - Kleindienst (Niederlechner 65'), Haberer
Coach: Christian Streich
Dortmund: Bürki - Piszczek, Bartra (Toprak 18'), Sokratis, Schmelzer (c) (Zagadou 31') - Castro, Sahin - Philipp, Götze (Yarmolenko 79'), Pulisic - Aubameyang
Coach: Peter Bosz