Published 09:55 IST, November 23rd 2019
Dortmund held at home by bottom side Paderborn in six-goal thriller
Borussia Dortmund captain Marco Reus equalized in added time to salvage a 3-3 draw at home to Bundesliga bottom side Paderborn
Borussia Dortmund captain Marco Reus equalized in added time to salvage a 3-3 draw at home to Bundesliga bottom side Paderborn as Friday's shock result left Dortmund coach Lucien Favre under pressure. Dortmund, who face Barcelona away on Wednesday in the Champions League, were 3-0 down at half-time at Signal Iduna Park and out-played before launching a second-half fightback. "We have to apologize to our fans for that performance, especially in the first half," said Dortmund's visibly shaken captain Marco Reus. "We can never play like that again at home, it was really shit. It's not on." Paderborn striker Streli Mamba ran riot in the first half with two goals before left-wing Gerrit Holtmann grabbed the visitor's third just before the break.
It was a different story in the second half as England winger Jadon Sancho gave Dortmund hope before Axel Witsel, then Reus both headed late goals to poach a point. The draw leaves Dortmund fifth in the table, but they could finish the weekend eight points behind leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach, who are at mid-table FC Union Berlin on Saturday. Having been drubbed 4-0 away at Bayern Munich before the international break, Dortmund were again guilty of woeful defending in the first half to put Favre in a precarious position.
Hosts Dortmund were behind with just five minutes gone when Paderborn winger Kai Proeger out-sprinted, then rode the tackle of Germany international Nico Schulz on the right flank. With the defense beaten, Proeger passed inside for Mamba to tap home and silence home fans. In response, Dortmund pushed forward but was punished for defending high up the pitch when Paderborn forward Ben Zolinski lifted the ball over the defense.
Mamba outsprinted Germany defender Julian Weigl to fire Paderborn 2-0 up on 37 minutes. The visitor's third goal came two minutes before the break when Dortmund's Belgium Axel Witsel lost possession and Holtmann sprinted clear of Weigl to fire past home goalkeeper Roman Buerki. Stunned Dortmund trudged off to a chorus of whistles from their fans at half-time.
Their CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke, watching in the stands, looked far from happy after such a weak display from his star-studded squad. Favre reacted by bringing on the attack-minded trio of Julian Brandt, Thorgan Hazard and Achraf Hakimi for the second-half. Dortmund flew out of the blocks with Sancho firing home after his captain Marco Reus had won back possession to make it 3-1 just two minutes into the second-half. Paderborn still had plenty of fire and Mamba came within a whisker of grabbing his hat-trick after firing wide on 67 minutes. With the final whistle approaching, Dortmund defender Mats Hummels hooked the ball across goal for Witsel to header home before Reus spared his side's blushes with the equalizer right at the end.
Updated 10:00 IST, November 23rd 2019