Dang, I’m in Germany and was thinking of heading off to the pub for the game. Now with Sargent out I’m on the fence. Sigh.
5th minute goal for...Werder Bremen! Free kick whipped in (definitely a shot), Rashica flew past a sleeping defender and deflected it in.
15': Pulisic INCHES from an assist. He took a Dortmund corner which was cleared out. The ball was played back to Pulisic on the wing, he took a couple touches, drove a ball across goal, and Gotze missed the far post by [...] that much with a backheel attempt.
I want to see more driving runs like the one Reus made to draw the foul a few minutes ago. If he can improve there, then he can play in more central roles.
20': Pulisic with a great touch, ball, and run that should have resulted in a goal for him, but Gotze's cross aimed at Pulisic was too far in front of him.
Some more good Pulisic play out wide results in another cross (from Reus, I think) that just misses Guerreiro.
It helps that Dahoud is not around. That guy rather passes back to the defenders than to Puli. With Delaney and Witsel in the axis, he's not getting ignored. PS: Fantastic atmosphere for a Pokal game.
It’s all about confidence with him. He went from none to an abundance pretty quickly. The one area that he has been consistently weak since his earliest Dortmund appearances is picking out people on crosses. The “blind” square ground crosses get snuffed out nearly every time. If he doesn’t specifically see someone I think a teasing driven ball in the air would have a much greater chance for success.
Almost 0-2 for Bremen. They came through their left (Dortmund's right) and had a nice low cross that missed by a foot. Rashica fouls Diallo hard. Ref has lost the yellows.
Thing is, once surrounded, he cannot make the pass to any of them. At least one should remain close. Hakimi and Puli don't have the understanding Diallo and Guerreiro have shown on the other side. PS: Spanish language South American commentators remarking how since Bremen took Puli out of the game with the multiple-mark, Dortmund is not finding holes in their defense.