Gladbach even buried the fragile Dortmund

Edin Terzic’s Borussia Dortmund ended the year with the irregular line that marked his career since the start of the Bundesliga and now he received the painful 4-2 against Borussia M’gladbach that could leave him with 9 points behind the lead before the break for the World Cup if Bayern Munich wins against bottom club Schalke at home tomorrow.

Gladbach, who rose to seventh place immediately behind Dortmund, have won just one of their last five games but now Jonas Hofmann and Marcus Thuram repeatedly exposed the defense of a rival who suffered their second defeat followed after losing on Tuesday against Wolfsburg (2 -0).

An amazing give and take

The give and take started at the first whistle. They were only four minutes into the game when Jonas Hofmann received a counter from Lars Stindl and opened the scoring with a low shot just wide of the post.

Borussia Dortmund were in control of the game, although in defense they feared every venomous release from Gladbach. In this dynamic, Jude Bellingham, in his most outstanding action of a careful performance, placed a great ball in the area that Julian Brandt, alone, controlled with his thigh before shooting on the turn in minute 18 (1-1).

The game continued to be played at a devilish pace, with chances at both goals. Hofmann got away again when Nico Schlotterbeck slipped but he didn’t time his pass well and prevented Marcus Thuram from finishing well (22′).

Bensebaini and Thuram made it 3-1

But Hofmann, delighted after being called up for the World Cup in Qatar on Thursday by German coach Hansi Flick, was also a nuisance for Dortmund from set pieces, as he showed by setting up a free-kick for Ramy Bensebaini to head home with a perfect shot (25′).

Gladbach pounced on the wound of a Dortmund team bleeding to death in defense when Thuram de Schlotterbeck went off for speed in the center circle, goalkeeper Gregor Kobel sat in his drive and scored a 3-1 goal against an empty goal (29′) .

Dortmund almost equalized before the break

Everything is still possible as Dortmund have also generated a lot of danger. Jan Jakob Olschowsky avoided making it 3-2 by kicking a header from Youssoufa Moukoko off the line. The rebound fell to Giovanni Reyna, who wanted to secure his shot so he allowed Bensebaini to block it (33′).

Dortmund’s harassment paid off soon after with a corner (39′). Olschowsky was unable to clear Niklas Süle’s header and Schlotterbeck partially corrected his defensive mistakes by pushing the ball into the net (39′).

And the score did not reach 3-3 before the break because Olschowsky took a point-blank shot from Donyell Malen in the extremis after Reyna left on the right (43′).

The fourth, seconds after the restart

It was a first half of real madness and the second started on the same paths since, when the first minute had not passed, Kouadio Koné received on the front line and made it 4-2 with a cross shot that enter next to the post.

With Dortmund on the up but not creating chances, Thuram had three clear chances on the counter to extend the lead and even assisted Hofmann but before that he fouled Mats Hummels and VAR ruled out score to go up to 5-2.

Dortmund, who were helpless in the second half, conceded their fifth league defeat in their last six trips and escaped a more crushing defeat. Until January 22, when the Bundesliga resumes after the World Cup, a difficult month and a half awaits him.