Dortmund’s defence defy RB Leipzig pressure to hold out a 1-1 draw

Although Borussia Dortmund had the ball in the back of the net three times in the first-half, the away side were held to a frantic 1-1 draw against RB Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena.

The game started at a frantic pace early on with Timo Werner having a great opportunity 9 minutes in to score the game’s first goal.

The 21-year-old pounced on an error from Dortmund defender Manuel Akanji who was too comfortable on the ball and played a dangerous ball across his defensive line which Werner pounced on.

The German then used his pace to get away from Akanji but hit his shot one-on-one straight against Roman Burki in the Dortmund goal.

However, the away side did respond with the first great chance of their own just two minutes later with their own forward Michy Batshuayi.

Captain Marcel Schmelzer did brilliantly to get a cross in for Batshuayi who turns beautifully before smashing a shot towards goal but Leipzig’s Peter Gulasci did well to palm it away from his goal.

There was still time in the first-half for more opportunities with the away side scoring three times but two of the goals were disallowed through being offside.

The first incident came in the 16th minute when Keita gave the ball away sloppily and Dortmund countered with Reus, Schurrle and Batshuayi in a slick move.

Schurrle found Batshuayi at the back-post who sticks it in but Schurrle is pulled back for offside. The second offside call would occur just 9 minutes later as this time it was Reus who has his goal disallowed.

After a scramble between Leipzig defenders, Reus finishes coolly past Gulasci but the pass through to him from Batshuayi was when the German was in an offside position so couldn’t count. Leipzig would answer these warning calls and react by scoring through young French forward Jean-Kevin Augustin.

On the 29th minute, Augustin scored after being played through by Liverpool-bound Naby Keita who showed why he’s worth over the £50million Liverpool have agreed to pay for him with a brilliant through-ball for Augustin who was able to finish first-time past the onrushing Burki.

But just like in his side’s previous game in the Bundesliga, Marco Reus again scored for Dortmund after Augustin had scored the game’s first goal.

Perhaps against the run of play, Mahmoud Dahoud in only his 6th start since joining in the summer shows his class this time with a through-ball that slices through the Leipzig defence leaving Reus to take it round Gulasci and finish calmly.

This goal ended what was a hectic first-half leaving fans and commentators left catching their breath. But it would be much of the same in the second half with players and managers Ralph Hasenhüttl and Peter Stoger alike left absolutely exhausted.

The main chances would fall for the home side with the away side playing perhaps an uncharacteristic defensive style of play trying to come away from the Red Bull Arena with a credible point.

Dortmund did have an odd chance in the second half, however, to nick things with Dahoud doing brilliantly to beat three Leipzig defenders down the left-hand side and laid the ball across to a frustrated Batshuayi who somehow misses the ball and the opportunity from less than six yards out.

The biggest chances fell late on with late substitute Bruma using his electric pace to get past Lukasz Piszczek before clipping in a clever ball for Werner but the youngster inches away from nodding in what would be one of the easiest goals he’s ever scored.

There was time for Akanji to almost score a comedic own goal after playing poorly in his standards as Bruma again gets down the by-line and as Akanji tries to head away the cross, Burki has to spare the former Basel man’s blushes and turn it behind for a corner.

This chance ended what was a frenzy of a game and is arguably a fair result after Dortmund played well in the first-half and Leipzig better in the second.

This leaves Dortmund falling to 3rd place and looking forward to their Europa League round of 16 tie against Red Bull Salzburg next Thursday evening.

Leipzig meanwhile stay in 6th place and look ahead to their own Europa League tie against Russian side Zenit as they remain in the hunt for a Champions League place of their own come the end of the season.