Talking Points from Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt

Borussia Dortmund were held to a 2-2 draw by Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. Maximilian Philipp and Gonzalo Castro scored for the visitors but two second-half goals from Sebastien Haller and Marius Wolf overturned a two-goal deficit for the hosts.

The match began with a high intensity, but the real action began after about a quarter of an hour when Ante Rebic’s goal was ruled offside by the referee. Just moments later, the visitors opened the scoring. Marc Bartra’s deflected shot fell into the path of Castro who tapped the ball into an empty net to give his side a 1-0 lead. The hosts dominated the rest of the first half, with Subotic denying Haller and Wolf’s lob being blocked by Burki. The hosts then suffered a major blow as Timothy Chandler, who has been a mainstay in the hosts’ side this season, suffered a knee injury and was replaced by the Mexican Carlos Salcedo.

Aubameyang spurred two glorious chances just after the break, firing Gotze’s pass over the top and later shooting straight at Lukas Hradecky. Philipp then scored his side’s second goal, before Aubameyang’s goal was ruled offside. Roman Burki, who has very recently signed a new contract, tripped Rebic in the box and conceded from the spot as Haller got one back for his side. Marius Wolf then levelled the scores minutes later, but the visitors could’ve still run away with a victory had Hradecky not superbly denied Pulisic and had Sahin’s shot not been cleared off the line after some good work from debutant Jadon Sancho.

With this win, Dortmund dropped two crucial points and now lead rivals Bayern Munich on goal difference only.

Here are the Major Talking Points from the match-

Bayern Back on Radar?

With this draw, Dortmund dropped two more points which could ultimately be crucial in the title race. And with Bayern Munich, who defeated Hamburger 1-0, finding their groove back under Jupp Heynckes, does it mean that Dortmund’s days at the top of the league are over? They could still resurrect their title charge, but they’re looking short on confidence and with the team under pressure, it looks highly unlikely.

Bosz’s baffling tactics

There have been rumours that Bosz hasn’t been enjoying a great rapport with his players for a while now. And when he deploys such tactics, it makes you wonder what the Dortmund chiefs were thinking while appointing him as the head coach. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way saying that Bosz isn’t good enough to manage Dortmund, but even coaches like Van Gaal have paid a heavy price for their baffling tactics. It’s not every day that you see players like Weigl playing at centre-back, and that too when they’re nowhere as physically imposing as the opposition attackers. And instead of shifting him to the midfield after half-time, he was substituted, and within ten minutes the opposition had scored two goals. Also, instead of playing Toljan consistently at one position, he was played at the right last week, started on the left here, and was just finding his feet when he was again shifted to the right back to accommodate Zagadou at left back, who was also not played at his first choice position! Interesting stuff, isn’t it?

Sancho makes his debut

Highly rated teenager Jadon Sancho, who was signed this summer from Manchester City and was recalled from the England Under-17 squad last week by Borussia Dortmund, made his much-anticipated debut with 7 minutes of the match remaining. And he could’ve even scored, but his late shot was blocked and Sahin’s rebound was cleared off the line.