A new era has begun
The win was a big relief just one day after hundreds of marriages were sealed on 08/08/2008. Likewise the "marriage" between Borussia Dortmund and new coach Jürgen Klopp had to stand a tough test at Hafenstr. (Habour street) in Essen. But the connection stand the test: In the end BVB beat the brave fighting 4th division team of Rot-Weiß Essen 3-1.
The excitement was unbelievable. The new coach had ignited a firestorm of euphoria among the supporters. Even that big, that users of our forum gave Klopp so much credit, that they would even accept a bad start into the season without starting to argue early. And yes, already during the train trip to Essen it became clear, who big the Kloppo-mania really was: Everybody was drinking Radler (a beer/lemonade drink). Not just any Radler, but exactly the same that he drunk last week during a fan meeting.
In stadium the atmosphere was fantastic even long before kick off. When Roman Weidenfeller entered the pitch for his warm up at 2.45 pm the away supporters expressed what was clearly visible already: "Hurra, Hurra, die Dortmunder sind da" ("Hurray, hurray, the Dortmund boys are here!"). And when then the stadium stereo played "Am Tag, an dem Conny Kramer starb" the whole stadium was united, as both teams share a hate towards Sch*lke 04 and the mentioned song melody is used with different lyrics as a stadium chant dissing Sch*lke 04. And even the chant "You are shit, like Sch*lke 04" both sides had in common.
The section Essen of the BVB ultra supporters "Desperados" had a special present for the RWE supporters. A big banner showing "Born in Essen, to die in Dortmund". Surely the Essen supporters in stadium might have a different opinion.
BVB started furious into the match, though the defence was not working that smooth. Antonio Rukavina and Giovanni Federico were putting up the pressure on the right wing. Nelson Valdez was really on fire and surely the best BVB player over the full 90 minutes. Neven Subotic, 19 year old central defender, had some problems in the first half and his central defence partner, Mats Hummels, started also slow into the match. The combination with the full backs, Rukavina and Dede, was not yet perfect. But both improved during the game.
In minute 12 Mladen Petric had a nice approach after a nice run and low cut-in by Rukavina. Only 2 minutes later the BVB players did it better and scored. Nelson Valdez paced down the left wing, penetrating Essen's box. His nice lob into the middle of the box found Tamas Hajnal rushing in. The small Hunagarian playmaker volleyed the ball in perfect style into the net - 1-0 BVB!
The atmosphere among the BVB supporters was great until that goal. Under Wolle's commando (Wolle is the vocal leader of BVB's biggest ultra group "The Unity") many new chants were introduced. Synchronized hopping and clapping was working very well. At all a good supporting performance.
When everyone thought, this would have been the preliminary decision, a Essen player, skipper Stefan Lorenz, took a desperate shot from 28 metres. Unfortunately his powerful shot was slightly deflected by Dortmund player and the ball hit the top right corner of Roman Weidenfeller's goal - no chance to clear and 1-1! And that was now the start to a real nail-biter. From the stands the BVB supporters reacted with "Come on Dortmund, fighting and winning!"
But at all BVB kept dominance. But apart from a nice header by Mats Hummels, that hit the bar, there weren't any significant chances for BVB. Biggest arouser was a sliding tackling that took Sebastian Kehl of the pitch, where he was called a wanker by some Essen supporters. Oh my god...
The second half started with some ugly duels in midfield - the match started to become more rude. And slowly the home crowd realized that they weren't without any chance. Very impressive their chant over 3 stands "Rot - Weiß - Essen!" The stadium transformed into a boiling pot, the match was at stake. Unfortunately the BVB supporters seemed also impressed and there weren't that many chants anymore. But of course we have Florian Kringe! After a nice high cut-in by Dede the Siegen-born midfielder headed the ball into Essen's net - 2-1 BVB!
That was somehow the signal for Rot-Weiß Essen, to give up hope. On the other hand the home crowd was now really going wild. During a corner kick Tamas Hajnal had to be protected by an umbrella as many items, like lighters, were thrown onto the pitch. But in minute 70 BVB set an end to this madness, when Tamas Hajnal played a nice long pass, that found Nelson Valdez. The Paraguay national mad a nice first contact by head and paced into the box. And really the sometimes unfortunate striker made it 3-1 for BVB!
And then there was a special premiere. Bajram Sadrijaj was just 45 seconds on the pitch when he tackled a Essen player on the sideline. Referee Dr Brych did not hesitate and showed the red card. Maybe a bit too harsh but BVB coach Jürgen Klopp had later stated that he had instructed Sadrijaj to shut down the right side, no matter how. The Albanian player had understood it too literally. Marcel Schmelzer was also brought into the match and did perform well. And so the cup fight ended 3-1 for Borussia although Hummels and Kehl had another 2 chances.
Even though no one of the BVB officials - no coach, no fan, no player - would have admitted before, the win was a big relief. Roman Weidenfeller seemd to be in good mood and was celebrating with the fans. The whole team was even waving with the guest supporters. And even Jürgen Klopp was much more relaxed than before kick off: "The team showed part of its new face, we are talking about the last 5 weeks. It wasn't all perfect, but I am satisfied how we managed to battle down Essen, who played with much discipline." If the team goes on like this, we might enjoy a better season than the last one.
Statistics
Rot-Weiß Essen: Maczkowiak - Kotula, Csyszczon, S. Lorenz, Bührer - M. Lorenz (76. Türkeri), Kühne - Pagano (68. Karadag), Mainka (76. Ritz) - Kurth, Mölders
Coach: Michael Kulm
BVB: Weidenfeller [3] - Rukavina [3], Subotic [3], Hummels [2], Dede [2] - Hajnal [2] (88. Kovac), Kehl [3] - Federico [4] (72. Sadrijaj), Kringe [3] - Petric [5] (77. Schmelzer), Valdez [2]
Coach: Jürgen Klopp
(Marks: 1=world class, 2=did very well, 3=performance was ok, 4=not enough but not too bad at all, 5=not worth the money, 6=should pay money for playing football)
Goals: 0:1 Hajnal (14., right-footed, assist Valdez),1:1 S. Lorenz (18., right-footed), 1:2 Kringe (60., header, Dede), 1:3 Valdez (70., right-footed, Hajnal)
Yellow cards: Ritz, Bührer - Federico
Red cards: Sadrijaj (72., rude tackle)
Referee: Dr Brych
Attendance: 21.000 (Georg-Melches-Stadion, sold out)
jonam, 09.08.2008
