Borussia Dortmund vs. Hoffenheim: Winners and Losers from Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund erased a 1-0 half-time deficit to beat Hoffenheim 3-1 on Matchday 23 of the 2015/16 Bundesliga season at Signal Iduna Park on Sunday.
The hosts were without captain Mats Hummels, who didn't overcome problems with his hip flexor in time; Neven Subotic replaced him, as he did in the second half against FC Porto in midweek. Lukasz Piszczek was fit and took his usual spot at right-back from Matthias Ginter, while Nuri Sahin replaced Ilkay Gundogan in midfield.
Hoffenheim made two changes from their 3-2 win over FSV Mainz on the previous matchday, with Ermin Bicakcic and Jeremy Toljan coming in for Philipp Ochs and Eduardo Vargas.
The visitors played an interesting shape with five defenders at the back and without a striker. Head coach Julian Nagelsmann's plan worked to perfection in the first half: His side were all over Dortmund.
The Black and Yellows dominated possession but hardly did anything noteworthy on the ball, while Hoffenheim looked dangerous on the break.
One such counterattack led to the opener: Sebastian Rudy sprinted right down Dortmund's middle unhindered and found Kevin Volland. The Germany international fired a shot toward goal that BVB goalkeeper Roman Burki should have dealt with, but the 25-year-old parried the ball straight to Rudy. To add insult to injury, his rebound nutmegged Burki.
Marco Reus had Dortmund's only shot on target with a fine free-kick in the 43rd minute, but Oliver Baumann was on the scene.
Gundogan entered the game after intermission, and Dortmund's attitude seemed to change.
The biggest incident, however, came after 58 minutes. Rudy was sent off for a cynical foul on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Now playing against 10 men, Dortmund had wave after wave of attacks with little real danger on Hoffenheim's goal, until Henrikh Mkhitaryan finally put one past Baumann 10 minutes from time.
Dortmund were at full throttle after the equaliser, and it only took five minutes until substitute striker Adrian Ramos scored the second after a great cross from Piszczek.
With Hoffenheim desperately trying to salvage a point, Dortmund had two chances to add a third, which Aubameyang did after great work from Ramos and Mkhitaryan.
With the come-from-behind win, Dortmund set a new club record, as stat provider Opta pointed out after the game on Twitter: "With 31 points out of their first 11 home matches, BVB set a new club record in their Bundesliga history. Fortress."
Hoffenheim, meanwhile, remain second-to-last, three points behind Werder Bremen in the spot that qualifies for the relegation playoff. Still, they can be proud about their performance on Sunday.
Here, Bleacher Report picks the winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Adrian Ramos
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Adrian Ramos literally scored the winner, so he deserves a mention on this list.
The Colombian striker isn't having the greatest time as Dortmund's back-up striker. Aubameyang is almost never injured, so opportunities are few and far between for the 30-year-old.
He only came on in the 74th minute, but Ramos' substitute performance is a big reason Dortmund turned the match around.
Showing off his biggest asset as a striker, his ability with the ball in the air, he made an impressive leap to get to Piszczek's cross and score his third of the season—he's scored all of them as a sub, mind you.
His goal seemed to lift a burden, as Ramos looked more confident the moment it went in. His amazing volley pass to Mkhitaryan that set up Dortmund's third was breathtaking, as this video shows.
Loser: Sebastian Rudy
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The day was going perfectly for Sebastian Rudy.
After scoring on his 26th birthday, the Germany international and his Hoffenheim side were well on their way to sensationally stealing three points from the trip to Dortmund.
Rudy was instrumental, not only by initiating and finishing the move that led to the 1-0 score but also with some intelligent defending from his spot in midfield.
Then came the 58th minute. With Dortmund on a counterattack, Hoffenheim found themselves outnumbered. Rudy's only shot at preventing a likely scoring chance was to foul Aubameyang.
Unfortunately, he fouled him a split second too late and coming from behind. Referee Peter Sippel didn't hesitate and showed Rudy the red card.
Opinions are divided: Kicker (link in German), for example, called it a "harsh decision," while Eurosport commentator Angus Torode tweeted: "I applaud ref Peter Sippel's stand against a foul that was premeditated & cynical."
At any rate, there's no denying that the "red card was game-changing," as Deutsche Welle's Ross Dunbar pointed out after the game.
Winner: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
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Dortmund's Armenian midfield genius Henrikh Mkhitaryan added to his impressive season with another sparkling performance.
His cheeky finish for the equaliser was probably the only way Dortmund could score at that point of the game, and then he selflessly added an assist in the dying moments, when going for the goal himself wouldn't have had any negative repercussions.
The 27-year-old's outrageous numbers this season get more and more impressive, as this tweet from stat provider Opta shows: "In 37 matches this season (all competitions), Henrikh Mkhitaryan has 19 goals and 19 assists."
Head coach Thomas Tuchel told German broadcasting station WDR after the game (h/t BVB on Twitter, in German) that he was happy with his team's desire for three points, and no one exemplifies that mentality more than Mkhitaryan.
Loser: Shinji Kagawa
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Shinji Kagawa just doesn't get a foot on the ground in 2016. That was, quite literally, the case in his 45 minutes on the pitch against Hoffenheim.
The Japan international slipped at least three times with his team in promising attacking situations and generally looked out of sync with his team-mates.
Per WhoScored.com, he had a mere 23 touches of the ball until his substitution at half-time, and he didn't contribute anything for his team. With Sahin getting back to strength and Gundogan again proving that he's irreplaceable, Kagawa could find himself on the bench more often than not in the stretch run in the coming months.
Winner: Julian Nagelsmann
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It might be odd to see a head coach listed as a winner after his side lost 3-1, but Julian Nagelsmann deserves a mention here.
His side were fantastic until the sending off changed the complexity of the game. The match at Dortmund was a bit of a baptism of fire for the 28-year-old coach, and he passed the test with flying colours as long as the playing field was level: He had an unorthodox plan, and it worked.
His humility after the game was also commendable. He accepted the red card in an interview with German broadcaster Sky and conceded that Dortmund were deserved winners.
He also said, per the club's official website (link in German), that he couldn't blame his team's effort and that they wouldn't have lost 3-1 with 11 men on the pitch.
With that mentality, and performances like this one against one of Europe's premier football teams this season, Hoffenheim will find a way out of the relegation zone before it's too late.
Lars Pollmann is a Featured Columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
