SI

Borussia Dortmund 2-1 TSG Hoffenheim: Late Christian Pulisic Strike Seals Hard-Fought Win for BVB

Borussia Dortmund beat TSG Hoffenheim 2-1 at the Signal Iduna Park on Saturday evening, with American starlet Christian Pulisic deciding the game with a late

90 Min

Borussia Dortmund 2-1 TSG Hoffenheim: Late Christian Pulisic Strike Seals Hard-Fought Win for BVB
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 TSG Hoffenheim: Late Christian Pulisic Strike Seals Hard-Fought Win for BVB /

Borussia Dortmund beat TSG Hoffenheim 2-1 at the Signal Iduna Park on Saturday evening, with American starlet Christian Pulisic deciding the game with a late winner.

Hoffenheim took the lead early on with a goal from Mark Uth. However, a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty and a late Pulisic strike sealed all three points for the home side on the night.

5a357738d915b25863000001.jpg
Lars Baron/GettyImages

The away side began the game the stronger of the two, but failed to create any meaningful chances in the early exchanges. Dortmund seemed content to sit back and hit the visitors on the counter-attack, and in the fifth minute they could have went ahead.

A sloppy back pass to goalkeeper Oliver Baumann from Florian Grillitsch was intercepted by Andrey Yarmolenko. The Ukrainian found himself one on one with the Hoffenheim goalkeeper, but the ex-Dynamo Kiev man dragged his shot agonisingly past the post. 

5a356726d915b26fdb000007.jpg
Lars Baron/GettyImages

Despite Dortmund looking the most dangerous in attack, it was the away side who broke the deadlock. 

In the 20th minute, a defence splitting pass from German youngster Nadiem Amiri found Pavel Kaderabek in the Dortmund box. The Czech Republic international squared the ball to Uth, who tapped the ball in for his ninth goal in the league this campaign.

On the balance of play, the away side deserved their lead. Despite going one goal down, Dortmund continued to play in the same manner, which played into the hands of Hoffenheim. 

Dortmund's only real chance to level the game before half time came in the 32nd minute, when Sokratis headed the ball narrowly wide from eight yards out, after the Greek international latched onto a superb free kick from Shinji Kagawa.

Hoffenheim came out the better in the second half and  played some exceptional football in this match, however in the 62nd minute their good work was undone when defender Stefan Posch brought down Kagawa in the box, and Dortmund had a penalty. 

Gabon international Aubameyang stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to bring the score level. 

The game failed to get going after Aubameyang's goal, with both sides failing to create any real chances of note. 

However, in the 88th minute Dortmund struck to grab all three points. American Pulisic latched onto a fantastic through-ball from Kagawa, and the USA international lifted the ball over the advancing Baumann and coolly volleyed the ball home from close range to his side the win.

In the last second's of the game Dortmund could have had another, after Aubameyang failed to head into an empty net from ten yards out, and substitute Mahmoud Dahoud dragged his shot wide from just inside the Hoffenheim box.

The score ended 2-1 to the hosts. Hoffenheim can feel disappointed after they dominated most of the game, however they failed to take their chances and only have themselves to blame.

As for Dortmund they face Bayern Munich on Wednesday, and will be hoping for another win in their final competitive game of 2017.

Published
90 Min
90 MIN

Home/Soccer