Dortmund came back and beat a Union that will not emerge from the crisis

Borussia Dortmund beat Union Berlin 4-2 on Saturday in a match they had to bounce back from after going down 2-1 at half-time after a first half marked by set-piece situations and VAR decisions, all of which is right but they took the rhythm of the game out of whack with some long delays.

Dortmund took the lead in the 8th minute, through Niclas Füllkrug with a play from a corner kick. Füllkrug’s first header was blocked by goalkeeper Rönnow and Füllkrug himself took advantage of the rebound to score with his foot.

The Union equalized almost immediately, with a header from Robin Gosens also from a corner kick.

Then two strange situations occurred: a goal for each team in separate free kicks that were ultimately disallowed by VAR after both scorers were ruled offside, Kral for Union in the 18th minute and Füllkrug for Union on the 26th.

Dortmund went further, without creating a clear lead, but the game was unbalanced in favor of the Union in the 31st minute with a penalty scored by Leonardo Bonucci. Again VAR, by alerting the central referee of a foul by Mats Hummels on Sheraldo Becker, was decisive in the action.

For the second half, Dortmund coach Edin Terzic made a change, replacing Julian Brandt with Anthony Bynoe-Gittens.

Brandt drew a warning on his first contact with a low shot from distance. Dortmund became more aggressive and looked for a goal in every possible way.

Center back Nico Schlotterbeck was responsible for securing a partial tie with an excellent mid-range goal in the 49th minute. Schlotterbeck’s left-footed shot went into the goal near the top corner and after touching the crossbar.

Dortmund’s third goal came from a counterattack, at a time when the Union were pressing after a corner kick in their favor.

Marius Wolf cleared the ball from the area and Reus received it and, after crossing midfield, opened up the game for Brand, who pointed it with a shot from his right foot after entering the area in the 54th minutes.

In the 71st minute, Ryerson scored with a volley from outside the area, taking advantage of a rebound off a cross from Giovanni Reyna.

Data sheet:

4 Borussia Dortmund: Kobel; Wolf, Hummels (Sule, 73), Schlotterbeck, Ryerson; Can, Nmecha; Malen (Reyna, 64), Reus (Özcan, 83), Bynoe-Gittens (Brandt, 46); Füllkrug (Haller, 83).

2 Union Berlin: Rönnow; Doekhi, Bonucci, Diogo Leite; Trimmel (Roussillon, 68), Kral (Tousart, 20), Gosens; Laidouni (Aaronson, 55), Haberer; Becker (Fofana, 68), Behrens (Volland, 68).

Goals: 1-0 (min 8, Füllkrug), 1-1 (min 9, Gosens), 1-2 (min 31, Bonucci from penalty), 2-2 (min 49, Schlotterbeck), 3-2 ( min 54 , Brandt), 4-2 (min 72, Ryerson)

Referee: Patrick Ittrich. Hummels, scolded by Gosens

Incidents: Bundesliga match of the day played at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund.