Bundesliga News: Bayer Leverkusen defeat Borussia Dortmund 2-0
The two goals coming in the span of 3 minutes were enough for Bayer Leverkusen to defeat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in their opening Bundseliga match at the Signal Iduna Park.
The goals scored in the 19th minute by Tranquillo Barnetta and in the 22nd minute by Eren Derdiyok set the massive 73,000 persons audience wild as Leverkusen thrashed around a lack lustrous Dortmund side.
The starting line up for Dortmund was Roman Weidenfeller, Neven Subotic, Mats Hummels, Patrick Owomoyela, Marcel Schmelzer, Sebastian Kehl, Nuhri Sahin, Shinji Kagawa, Mario Gotze, Lucas Barrios and Kevin Grobkreutz.
The starting line up for Leverkusen was Rene Adler, Sami Hyypia, Michael Kadlec, Gonzalo Castro, Stefan Reinartz, Tranquillo Barnetta, Renato Augusto, Michael Ballack, Arturo Vidal, Stefan Kiebling and Eren Derdiyok. Following is the match summary including critical moments:
The Dortmund player Shinji Kagawa allowed Leverkusen’s goal keeper Rene Adler make a superb save in the opening moments of the game but that was all the moral support they had for a long time.
Near to the 19th minute Eren Derdiyok struck a powerful long shot but the goal posts blocked it from getting in, however soon after that Arturo Vidal made a beautiful ball for Tranquillo Barnetta who made no mistake in finishing it with his right foot.
After the celebrations, Dortmound orchestrated a counter attack which actually resulted in Sebastian Kehl heading a goal but it was not allowed as the referee Florian Meyer controversially ruled it off stating that an offside foul had been committed.
In response Leverkusen produced a stunner inspired by Eren Derdiyok and finished by Renato Augusto with his left foot. The duo applied a one to two strategy to fire in the brilliant goal.
During the rest of the half though, Dortmund did not face much trouble in acquiring the ball, they did however lack the spark to create offensive chances to score a goal. Leverkusen on the other hand played it calmly and seemed happy with their 2-0 lead by the end of the first half.
When the second half started it seemed as though Leverkusen had become entirely calm as they lazily walked around with the ball and tried to make half hearted attempts at scoring.
They were however woken in the 57th minute when their shot stopper was called in to make a splendid save on a free kick taken by Nuri Sahin. This brought Leverkusen back on to the field and after that they dominated the possession and made some brilliant moves. Dortmund on the other hand did not have a real chance to score, not until the 80th minute when Marcel Schmelzer kicked a long ranged shot but goalie Adler was onto it.
The substitutions made by Borussia Dortmund were in the 63rd minute when Sebastian Kehl was replaced by Robert Lewandowski, then in the 67th minute as Lukasz Piszczek was brought in for Kevin Grobkreutz. Their last substitution came in the 77th minute when Dimitar Rangelov was brought on field for Patrick Owomoyela.
The substitutions made by Bayer Leverkusen were in the 75th minute when Lars Bender was substituted in for Tranquillo Barnetta and 5 minutes later Daniel Schwaab was brought in for Renato Augusto. Their last substitution came in the 88th minute when Hanno Balitsch took the place of Arturo Vidal.
The match will be demoralizing for Dortmund and this could lead to a poor performance from them in their Europa League play off match this week against Tavriya Symferopol. They will have to focus on their game play on the wings and will have find themselves an accomplished centre forward.
On the other hand Leverkusen, who have been destroying mediocre teams for some time have actually remained in their good form. They will soon be up against teams of higher level. If they continue their impressive game in the midfield and on the flanks along with utilizing the expertise of German legend, midfielder Michael Ballack they can over come bigger opponents and step forward as a stronger team.
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