Borussia Dortmund vs. Schalke: Winners and Losers from Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund beat local rivals Schalke 04 by a 3-2 scoreline on Matchday 12 of the Bundesliga at Signal Iduna Park on Sunday.
The 147th edition of German football's fiercest rivalry was one of the most thrilling "Revierderby" meetings between the two sides in recent memory—thanks in large part to shoddy defending.
The hosts fielded the expected XI, with Gonzalo Castro getting the start for injured attacking midfielder Marco Reus. Schalke had Joel Matip available a day after his coach, Andre Breitenreiter, had declared him likely out for the game.
The visitors surprised with teenage sensation Leroy Sane as the second striker next to captain Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, which pushed striker Franco Di Santo to the right wing.
Dortmund were the better side in the first half but struggled against Schalke's concentrated defending block—the Royal Blues defended with six players on a line at times.
A one-two between Castro and right-back Matthias Ginter opened the visitors up for the first time after half an hour. Ginter then played a pinpoint cross into the middle, where Shinji Kagawa, all 5'7" of him, nodded the ball into the net.
Schalke weren't shocked, however, and equalised after just three minutes. Sane found Huntelaar in the box after Dortmund skipper Mats Hummels had carelessly given the ball away near the halfway line.
Ginter restored the lead for his side two minutes before intermission with a powerful from a Henrikh Mkhitaryan corner.
Dortmund came out firing in the second half, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring to make it 3-1 in the 47th minute. The Black and Yellows had numerous chances to put the game to bed, but Schalke's 'keeper Ralf Fahrmann denied them with a number of fantastic saves.
Huntelaar scored his second with a sublime finish 20 minutes from time after Sokratis Papastathopoulos failed to clear a cross from Leon Goretzka. Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki was called into action—for the first time in the whole game—in the 79th minute, when he parried substitute Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's shot onto the post. That proved to be Schalke's last chance in the game.
Dortmund were deserved winners but wouldn't have been able to complain had Schalke scored a late equaliser, as they failed to put the game away after the 3-1.
With the win, the hosts have taken a commanding eight-point lead over third-placed VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga table. Schalke remain in fifth place, a point behind Wolfsburg.
Here's a look at the winners and losers from the Revierderby.
Winner: Matthias Ginter
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The 21-year-old World-Cup winner is one of the most surprising stories in the Bundesliga this season. Ginter, a centre-back by trade playing on the right side of defence for two months now, has now been involved in nine goals for Dortmund in the league.
Against Schalke, he delivered perhaps his most complete performance yet. His cross for Kagawa's goal was exquisite, and his headed goal after a corner was vital. Unlike previous matches, where he contributed in attack but looked lost in defence, Ginter was Dortmund's most stable defender against Schalke as well.
His direct opponent, Max Meyer, had no influence on the game whatsoever and was taken off after just 56 minutes.
Loser: Dortmund's Centre-Back Pairing
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Mats Hummels was easily the worst player on the pitch. He misplaced numerous passes in build-up and was lucky that led to only one goal for the Royal Blues.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel said after the game, per Stefan Buczko of ESPN FC: "The first goal was a bad decision by Mats Hummels, but we want him to play forward passes like that."
One must assume that was just the official version, as Tuchel will have some words with his captain, who seemed to overlook Goretzka. It was one of many instances this season when Hummels exposed his team's defensive third.
Another one of those instances allowed Schalke to counter against a Dortmund team that had moved up the pitch collectively. Hummel's defensive partner Papastathopoulos did, however, have a chance to clear the danger for his team. He bottled it, leaving Huntelaar with a golden opportunity to make the last 20 minutes of the game very interesting.
Even if a mistake like the one before the second Schalke goal only happens once every six months, as Tuchel jokingly put it after the game, per Marcus Bark of Sportschau.de, Dortmund can't be happy with their centre-back pairing.
Winner: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
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Schalke's captain, who wore the armband in place of injured Benedikt Howedes, will probably not find solace in his brace, but he should.
The Netherlands international had failed to find the net for 420 minutes before he scored the equaliser in the first half on Sunday, according to Kicker. One could see that the equalizer, a true poacher's goal, gave the 32-year-old confidence. His second was an absolute beauty—a marvellous lob that Dortmund 'keeper Burki could do nothing about.
Schalke need the Bundesliga's leading scorer of the 2011/12 campaign to maintain his new-found form, seeing as the Royal Blues have only netted 16 goals this season—Aubameyang and Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski have scored 14 apiece.
Loser: Andre Breitenreiter
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Losing your first derby in charge against your archrivals is bad. Losing your first derby on the back of a spell of five games without a win is even worse. Breitenreiter, having taken over at Schalke in the summer, is now in the midst of his first crisis at the club.
His lineup decisions looked peculiar before the game, and one would think the 42-year-old would like to take some of them back. Di Santo looked lost on the wing, for example, and didn't have any influence on the game, failing to fire even a single shot.
Breitenreiter's decision to play Sead Kolasinac in midfield didn't work out, either. Schalke looked best when Hojbjerg replaced Kolasinac midway through the second half.
After the game, Breitenreiter was complimentary of his team and argued that his team lacked experience in key moments. Perhaps the coach suffered from the same deficiency.
Winner: Ralf Fahrmann
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Schalke lost the game but arguably had the man of the match in their ranks in their goalkeeper. Fahrmann was, in short, outstanding.
The 27-year-old showed why he's German magazine Kicker's highest-graded 'keeper for the second year running, with a number of brilliant saves. His best work came after Schalke conceded the third goal. First, in the 54th minute, he denied Mkhitaryan from close range. Then, 14 minutes later, his amazing reaction prevented a goal from Papastathopoulos after a corner.
It borders on the ridiculous that Fahrmann has yet to receive a call-up to the national team, but such is the depth of Germany between the sticks.
