Borussia Dortmund had the game under control, then lost it in the space of four minutes. A 2-0 lead turned into a 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen after late goals from Ludovit Reis and Niclas Füllkrug left Nico Kovac's side with only one point from a match they had largely managed.
That is why this result lands hard today. Dortmund had defended well for 95 percent of the match and still walked away having given up two points, the kind of collapse that turns a routine win into a warning sign. Daniel Svensson had put them ahead from close range after being in the right place at the right time, and Schlotterbeck added a second from a corner five minutes later, only for the advantage to disappear late.
The first half had already pointed to a tight afternoon. Werder Bremen sat in a very low midblock and kept Dortmund to an xG of 0.38 before the break, which explained why the opening goal only came after the second-half changes. Kovac brought on Silva, Karetsas and Veerman, and the move that broke Bremen finally arrived in the 80th minute when Karetsas sent a long ball forward to Guirassy. Fabio Silva's finish was mistimed, but it turned into a pass to Svensson, and Dortmund had the lead they had been chasing.
Even that did not close the door. Schlotterbeck, who had scored Dortmund's second goal, later misplaced the pass that led to Bremen's 2-1 reply in the 88th minute, and the equalizer followed in the 92nd when Füllkrug scored from a free kick. The contrast was stark: Dortmund were disciplined for most of the match, but two lapses in concentration were enough to undo the control they had built. Gadou, 19 years old, won basically every duel he played in, which made the late collapse stand out even more. Dortmund now head south before the international break carrying two lost points and a result that fits the old pattern of a Dortmund-Bremen classic, only this time with the cost landing on Kovac's side.
