Nuri Sahin’s BVB headed to the capital city to take on the league’s worst offense, 1. FC Union Berlin. Bo Svensson’s FCU pulled off the shock 2-1 upset. Leverkusen, meanwhile, could only draw promoted Kiel.
Freiburg and Wolfsburg were victorious in the other two concurrent kickoffs, picking up away wins against respective opponents VfL Bochum and SV Werder Bremen.
A goal from Dortmund fullback Julian Ryerson against his former club proved insufficient for Nuri Sahin’s Borussia Dortmund to avoid an upset away at 1. FC Union Berlin on Saturday afternoon. Bo Svensson’s Eisernen handed BVB their second defeat of the current Bundesliga campaign at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. The mighty Westphalians will head into the October international break no higher than seventh place in the table.
Following last week’s disappointing late loss away at Gladbach, Svensson made three changes to his starting XI. American striker Jordan was replaced by Yorbe Vertessen. Captain Christopher Trimmel returned to take over for impromptu right wingback Janik Haberer while Aljoscha Kremlein was preferred to Andras Schäfer in midfield. Union remained in a 3-4-3 formation, but Benedict Hollerbach moved up to the top of the attacking trident.
Sahin saw no need to tinker with the XI that produced such fantastic results in the Champions’ League midweek. One regrettable forced change nevertheless saw the BVB trainer need to find a replacement for the injured Karim Adeyemi.Maximilian Beier deputized for Adeyemi on the right wing. Die Schwarzgelben maintained their 4-2-3-1 shape from Tuesday.
Both teams didn’t shy away from brave attacking charges in the opening minutes. As a result, matters got off to an entertaining start at both ends in Köpenick. Ex Dortmunder Tom Rother nearly opened the scoring for his new club in the 8th, whizzing a quality distance effort just past the right post. Two minutes after that, Hollerbach narrowly headed wide.
Dortmund weren’t exactly starved for decent ideas either, but weren’t able to trouble FCU keeper Frederik Rønnow much beyond a Yan Cuoto effort in the 19th. Union’s opportunity to open the scoring came in the 24th when BVB defender Nico Schlotterbeck was adjudged to have fouled Hollerbach in the box. Defender Kevin Vogt converted the 1-0 in the 25th.
After gaining a surprise lead, Svensson’s team withdrew against the visiting favorites and were able to frustrate the BVB build-up play with focused defending. Apart from a clever (intentional) Serhou Guirassy deflection of an Emré Can effort in the 37th, there were no Dortmund incursions into the penalty area worth noting. Union broke up most of Dortmund’s play in midfield.
Just before it was time to head into the tunnel, Vertessen gave the hosts a shock 2-0 lead. Vertessen collected a deflected Schlotterbeck clearance and polished off the 2-0 in the 45th. Union were unquestionably the better side in the opening 45, yet did receive a little luck on the second goal. Sahin chose to employ no changes at the half.
Vertessen might have put the game to be in the 53rd were it not for a strong fist-save from BVB keeper Gregor Kobel. Offensively, the Westphalians continued to struggle. Former Union man Julian Ryerson – recipient of a contract extension this week – took advantage of a rare instance of defensive disorientation from his former team on this particular afternoon.
Ryerson slipped in on the left in time to receive a pass from Brandt in the 62nd. Accorded way too much time and space, the former FCU fullback then took several intelligent touches before burying the 1-2. Sahin’s troops played significantly better after the goal. Visibly rattled, Svensson’s team still managed to remain compact enough to keep Dortmund away from goal in the final half hour plus.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga’s 15:30 kickoffs, there were a whole slew of entirely unpredictable results. Xabi Alonso’s defending Bundesliga champions thought they had matters sewn up against newly promoted Holstein Kiel at the BayArena. Early goals from Victor Boniface and Jonas Hofmann put Leverkusen ahead of Marcel Rapp’s Storks 2-0 in the 8th minute.
Kiel nonetheless battled back, snatching a morale-boosting pull-back goal just before the end of the half. Former Bayern prodigy Jan Fiete-Arp then equalized from the spot with just 20 minutes remaining. Incredibly, Kiel proved the far more aggressive side down the stretch and might have even secured a massive upset victory.
Over at the Vonovia Ruhstadion at the Castroper Straße, Wolfsburg fended off VfL Bochum’s attempt at their own comeback from a 0-2 deficit. Peter Zeidler’s Revierklub pulled a goal back as well before WOB striker Jonas Wind bagged his second goal of the match late. Ralph Hasenhüttl’s German Wolves left the Ruhrpott with a 3-1 win.
Julian Schuster’s SC Freiburg also got back to winning ways with an away victory of their own. Ritsu Doan scored the lone goal at the Weserstadion as the Schwarzwaldverein took all three points from their trip north to SV Werder Bremen. Freiburg punch back up to third place with their fourth win of the young season.
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