3 matches, 7 points ? perfect start for BVB!

Somehow the situation is scaring. A more or less perfect start for Borussia? Just a dream or wishful thinking? No, after beating Energie Cottbus 1-0 on their home soil we climbed the table one place up and are now on spot 3. Neven Subotic scored after a corner kick and secured a deserved win.

Scenario/Line up
BVB coach Jürge Klopp didn't see any need to change last weeks line up. Ziegler was still in goal as injured Roman Weidenfeller suffered a small setback. But he will be back for the Sch*lke clash in 2 weeks. Rukavina started as right back, Hummels and Subotic in central defence. Though a new left back was signed this week, South Korean national player Young-Pyo Lee, Schmelzer was on pitch. On the one hand because Lee had only 2 training sessions with his new team mates. On the other hand because Schmelzer did a rather good job against Bayern Munich last week. Kehl and Hajnal were our so called double-6, meaning they played as holding midfielders. Of course Tamas Hajnal played a much more offensive part. Kuba occupied the right wing, while Kringe started on the left. Valdez and Zidan made up our attack.
Home coach Prasnikar made 3 changes compared to last week's draw in Hanover. Cagdas replaced suspended Ziebig. Iliev and Skela were on the pitch as Sörensen and Vasiljevic were left out. Energie played with a 4-2-3-1 tactic.

First Half
On a sunny late summer afternoon the match started in front of 18.180 spectators. And it started with a first chance for BVB. A free kick by Tamas Hajnal was cleared by Kukielka, just to drop in front of Nelson valdez. The young Paraguayan striker was too surprised to convert and so this one was wasted. Nonetheless the scene showed who was settin the pace in this match. Though BVB was dominating midfield, they weren't able to create chances. Quite the contrary Cottbus had a first approach in minute 17. Sebastian Kehl with one of his many lost balls in midfield initiated an Energie attack. Skela's pass found Rivic, but his shot was blocked by Neven Subotic. Some minutes later Marcel Schmelzer paced down the left wing to serve Zidan on the edge of the box. But Mohamed took the wrong decision as he hesitated to shoot but tried a dribbling through 3 Cottbus players. Maybe the highlight of the match, from an aesthetic point of view, enjoyed the masses on the stands in minute 30. A beautiful from a half right position by Florian Kringe cut through Cottbus' defence and found Tamas Hajnal on the left side of the box. The Hungarian national didn't hesitate and volleyed the ball direction goal. The shot missed the post by centimetres only. On the opposite side of the pitch Cottbus had its second chance. Illiev dribbled the ball past Schmelzer and fired a powerful shot that was blocked by Hummels and cleared by Rukavina. Just when everyone was preparing to grab a new beer and sausage, there was a late last highlight. A corner kick taken by Tamas Hajnal found Kringe's head. The ball dropped in front of Energie's goal where Neven Subotic was waiting. And suddenly it was 1-0 for Borussia!

Second half
While Jürgen Klopp didn't see any need to replace a player, Prasnikar took Rivic off the pitch and brought Sörensen. Skela was the cause of the next arouser. Not being touched by Schmelzer he went down 20 metres in front of the goal, half right position. Unbelievable as Skela is known to be a diver! The undeserved free kick was taken by Cagdas, who fired a bombastic shot direction BVB's goal. Marc Ziegler was struggling to get his hands up and clear the ball. That was close! On the other side Kringe played a nice cut-in that brought Nelson Valdez in the position to head the ball onto Cottbus' goal. Unfortunately it was some metres wide. Both coach reacted as the match was now at stake. Prasnikar substituted Illiev in favour of Jelic. On the other side Klimowicz replaced Zidan. Maybe Energie's best chance to score in minute 68. A high pass by Skela became longer and longer and surprisingly touched the top of the bar. From there the ball dropped onto Rangelov's head. The Cottbus striker was so surprised that he didn't manage to hit the net. Instead the ball was over the goal. Jürgen Klopp made 2 last substitutions as he brought Nuri Sahin and Owomoyela who replaced Hajnal and Kuba. Though Energie Cottbus had two late approaches by Jelic and Sörensen, no one in the guest section of "Stadion der Freundschaft" ("stadium of friendship") had the feeling that Energie would be able to score the equalizer and so the match ended after 92 minutes with a more than deserved win for Borussia Dortmund.

Summary
As stated the win was deserved. Surely not a high quality match, but you need to win matches like these if you want to achieve your goals. Energie Cottbus lacked everthing in offence and their few chances were mostly created by luck. On the other side Borussia's central defence with Mats HUmmels and Subotic was superior. Especially Hummels was outstanding as he won 92% (!) of his duels....unbelievable! Schmelzer did a good job as right back and it will be interesting to see whether Klopp will line up Lee or trusts Schmelzer. Kehl had a more or less awfull match. As usual he conquered man balls but also played some bad passes. Kringe was maybe our best midfielder with one assist and some nice passes. Valdez was eager as always while Zidan had problems to adopt to our style of play.

Statements
Bojan Prasnikar: "I am not satisfied. In the first half we played with fear and gave the opponent to much space. In the second half we then created a little bit more pressure and did better at all. But up front we weren't dangerous enough. That is our biggest problem at the moment."

Jürgen Klopp: "Of course I am very satsfied, it was a deserved win. We were prepared well and the team showed a good mentality. A little bit disappointing was the fact that we created only few chances, so that it was a tight match until the final whistle. But our young defence did a very good job."

Statistics
Energie Cottbus: Tremmel - Radeljic, Kukielka, Cvitanovic, Cagdas - Rost, Angelov - Rivic (46. Sörensen), Skela (78. Jula), Iliev (62. Jelic) - Rangelov
Coach: Bojan Prasnikar

BVB: Marc Ziegler - Rukavina, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer - Hajnal (78. Sahin), Kehl - Kuba (83. Owomoyela), Kringe - Zidan (63. Klimowicz), Valdez
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 Subotic (45., right footed, assist Kringe)

Yellow cards: Sörensen / Rukavina

Referee: Perl

Attendance: 18.180 (Stadion der Freundschaft)

jonam, 31.08.2008