"It was incredible fun on the pitch. We have to be happy with the point at the end of the day but I think Dortmund found it very difficult to get a result even with the extra man," said Sven Bender, who celebrated his comeback from a double rib fracture against his former club. Wendell and Benny Henrichs also returned to side after suspension alongside Leon Bailey after recovering from illness. Dominik Kohr was sidelined with a one-match ban, Admir Mehmedi, Lucas Alario and Panos Retsos all dropped to the bench after playing from the start at Frankfurt. Heiko Herrlich, who celebrates his 46 th birthday on Sunday, again opted to play a 3-4-3 formation.
CHANCE OF EARLY LEAD
The Werkself went into the match in confident mood on the back of a nine-game unbeaten run. Borussia Dortmund, forced to bring on Andre Schürrle on eight minutes after a serious injury to Maximilian Philipp, lacked time on the ball and failed to produce organised moves due to an aggressive approach from the hosts. The BVB keeper Romen Bürki was centre stage early on when he just managed to save a Sven Bender header from a Bailey free kick on 12 minutes and then he turned away a tricky Julian Brandt effort heading for the corner of his net two minutes later. The Werkself were on the verge of taking the lead early on. At the other end, Bernd Leno safely held on to a shot from Yarmolenko on 18 minutes. The Dortmund goal frame was then rattled: A Havertz header hit the bar on 21 minutes after great work by Bailey. Bürki was untroubled by an effort from Henrichs five minutes later. Dortmund proved completely ineffectual up front
Bürki Keeps BVB IN THE GAME
Then came the duly expected lead: Kevin Volland was put through on the Dortmund goal with a pass from Havertz to the halfway line and he rounded Bürki to tuck the ball into the back of the night with all the time in the world to give Bayer 04 a deserved lead – the ninth goal of the season for the Germany international. Shortly after that, Bailey, who was once again very lively, had a shot blocked just after the half-hour mark and he then put the ball past the right post on 37 minutes. Bürki intervened to prevent Charles Aránguiz doubling the lead with a follow-up shot from Volland also kept out – a great chance for the hosts on 38 minutes. The Werkself then went a man down – referee Robert Hartmann initially showed Wendell a yellow card for a foul on Gonzalo Castro but then produced the red card after consulting the video evidence. As in the previous home game against Leipzig, Bayer 04 were again reduced to ten men. Dortmund applied pressure in the five minutes before the break but Bürki had to be on his toes to keep out an audacious long-range shot from Aránguiz in the third minute of added time.
Volland Almost Makes it 2-0
Heiko Herrlich brought on Panos Retsos in place of Benny Henrichs at the start of the second 45. With the extra man, BVB obviously had more possession but the Werkself defended with a passion and skill, Brandt and Bailey kept it tight on the flanks. Schürrle put the ball wide of the target with the first chance on 56 minutes. The impressive Aránguiz then made way for Julian Baumgartlinger on 62 minutes. Bayer 04 almost doubled the lead at that point: Volland raced away from a break but was unable to beat Bürki on 72 minutes – a great chance to make it 2-0. Doubly annoying: Yarmolenko netted the equaliser in the ensuing counter-attack with Leno getting a hand to the ball but he was unable to prevent the shot going in on 73 minutes. Karim Bellarabi came on for the goalscorer Volland five minutes later.
The ten men had the chance to take all three points late on: Bürki managed to turn a dangerous free kick from Bailey away for a corner on 88 minutes and a header from the outstanding Jonathan Tah flew just wide of the upright on 90 minutes. In added time, Sven Bender cleared off the line with Leno beaten. The game ended all square at 1-1. The fans in the North Stand gave their team a resounding send-off for their battling performance.
The next Bundesliga fixture for the Werkself on matchday 15 is the Friday night game away to VfB Stuttgart on 8 December. The kick-off at the Mercedes Benz Arena is at 20.30 CET.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Leno – Tah, S. Bender, Wendell – Henrichs (Retsos 46'), L. Bender, Aránguiz (Baumgartlinger 62'), Bailey – Havertz, Volland (Bellarabi 78'), Brandt
Borussia Dortmund: Bürki – Sokratis, Subotic, Schmelzer – Castro (Kagawa 44'), Weigl (Dahoud 65'), Sahin, Guerreiro – Yarmolenko, Philipp (Schürrle 8'), Pulisic
Goals: 1-0 Volland (30'), 1-1 Yarmolenko (73')
Referee: Hartmann (Wangen)
Booked: Havertz – Sahin, Schmelzer, Subotic
Sent off: Wendell (41' serious foul play)
Attendance: 30,210 (sell-out)
