Hannover 96 0-0 Borussia Dortmund
The Bundesliga season has just started and we’ve already had an upset happen on our watch!
Borussia Dortmund, considered heavy favourites to lift the league title, faced their first major debacle when they split the points with an impressive Hannover 96 side.
Many SBOBET predictions, including those made by yours truly, saw this game as a free-scoring affair that the BVB would eventually triumph. However, Die Roten played no-nonsense football and didn’t allow room for their guests to find any comfortable room in their stomping grounds.
Highlights of the game
Hannover started the game well, stopping Dortmund’s attack in the early minutes. Hannover’s brand of possession football is slowly building up their confidence and is stopping Dortmund from mounting any of their lightning-quick attacks. However, they weren’t able to do anything against a defence led by Axel Witsel, one of the stars in Dortmund’s win against Leipzig.
While Dortmund cannot bring the ball past their own half, the game hasn’t reached a situation where their defence has been cracked by the hosts. Dortmund were tightly organised, and Witsel’s presence in the middle that any attacks Die Roten mount through the middle were quickly smothered and extinguished.
A long ball from the left saw a bit of a scrap happen in the Hannover box. Maximilian Philipp powered a shot to goal, but the linesman raised his flag. Linton Maina immediately made his presence known after the dead ball. His consecutive attempts forced the defence to pull off defensive plays.
Maina, who came up through Hannover’s youth system and impressed Manchester United scouts, then continued making an impact to the game. Whenever he had the ball on the right, Thomas Delaney and Marcel Schmelzer scramble to stop the 19-year-old who made his senior debut against Werder Bremen.
It’s late in the first half that Dortmund start to impose their will. Hannover then began to commit fouls in order to stop the flow of the game from fully turning in Dortmund’s favour. Hannover still try to threaten the goal.
The first clear-cut chance of the game then happened in the 40th minute of the game. Marco Reus started a piercing run from the right to the inside and suddenly found himself in open space. He fired a shot to the bottom-left corner, only to be denied by Michael Esser’s world-class saves. He had another shot a few minutes later, but it was the crossbar that would deny him next.
Takuma Asano, a loanee from Arsenal, was brought in for Hamburger SV loanee Bobby Wood. The American immediately made his presence known when Maina and Hannover made dangerous attacks at the start of the second half. Wood’s speed has proven to be an annoyance for the Dortmund backline.
Borussia Dortmund had to wait until the 60th minute until they had another real crack at goal. Marco Reus took the free kick, starting a scramble that almost ended with a goal from Philipp if it weren’t for the post. He then sustained a broken nose due to a clash of heads with a Hannover defender during the scrap.
Dortmund had another shot at goal when Marius Wolf was all alone with the football and made a pass. However, the Dortmund captain was caught in an offside position, meaning that the possible goal made in the run would have been invalidated, anyway.
Hannover almost had the lead in the 78th minute: a corner from the right side saw the ball float past everyone and end up in Anton’s feet. The centre-back kicked the ball to the goal, but a Dortmund shirt managed to deflect it away.
Jadon Sancho was taken in the 79th minute to shake things up front for the Hannover defence, but the defence of Die Roten are just too organised to concede now. Lukasz Piszczek connected with Sancho’s free kick, but the shot safely landed in Esser’s hands.
The game didn’t end well for Dortmund as they failed to create more chances against Dortmund. Moreover, Wolf had to end the game on the grass as he was hit on the face by accident.
Key Statistics
The last four meetings between these two sides saw 20 goals go through the net, giving punters the impression that goals will come in spades in this match as well. However, the game defied many pre-match Hannover vs Dortmund betting tips and saw no ball fly past the keeper.
This draw also extends the winless streak the BVB have been enduring since March 2018. Dortmund’s winless tally is currently at six, and losses and draws are split at three apiece. Lucien Favre needs to find a way to solve Dortmund’s away issues fast or he will face the ire of the Yellow Wall.
Moreover, Hannover’s defence oriented formation effectively smothered Dortmund on defence while helping them keep possession on the attack. They had 54% of the possession, blocked four shots, and got four corners.
What’s next?
This draw will have a profound impact on the Bundesliga 2018 results, and we might see Bayern Munich stand at the top of the table once Game Day 2 is over. Dortmund must win against Eintracht Frankfurt if they want to keep the lead Bayern might gain as slim as possible.
Meanwhile, Hannover will face another tough outfit in RB Leipzig. The young and hungry Red Bulls will be out for blood, but I don’t think they can easily score goals against this indomitable Hannover side. If they can stop the team that tore them to shreds, what more can they do?
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