Undav's hat trick kills Dortmund's dreams of a title push

Since taking over Dortmund after Nuri Sahin was sacked, Niko Kovač managed to steady the ship and actually pilled up more points than anyone in the league (apart from Bayern Munich) – 49 from 24 league games. This match against Stuttgart today was a great opportunity for a self-reflection since it was the same team which defeated him in first game in charge for Borussia (2-1), back in February 2024. He was minutes from a win, his players took the lead twice, but eventually couldn‘t cope up with Deniz Undav, whose hat-trick ended the game with a 3-3 draw.

Stuttgart have beaten Dortmund in each of the past five games between the two, and are unbeaten in the last six, which raised to seven after today‘s draw, while Undav continued to score against BVB with ease. In five games against Borussia he scored three goals and added three more and they were all beautiful. He really enjoyed it as he was not only shushing the Dortmund crowd in the 91st minute, but also had a cheeky dance around Borussia‘s corner flag.

When two big teams like Borussia and Stuttgart meet each other, quality is expected. And yet, in the first 30 minutes we saw nothing. Both teams were cancelling each other until 33rd minute, when Undav brought down Schlotterbeck and the referee pointed at the spot. Captain Can was precise and it was 1-0. From that point on, the home team took complete control which they used to secure the second goal just before half-time. Bayern‘s on-loan keeper Nubel saved a shot from Guirassy but the ball came to Beier, who also took a shot. Nubel was there again but again with a deflection which came back to Beier with a bit of luck and he scored from close range to make it 2-0.

But Stuttgart were not going to give up so easily. Just two minutes into the second half, and it was 2-1 already. Dortmund failed to clear a looping ball into the penalty area and Undav took full advantage, hooking the ball over his shoulder and into the top corner with his right foot. It was a brilliant goal for Stuttgart. Guriassy scored against his former club minutes later but it was nullified due to an offside. Former Brighton forward scored a brace 20 minutes from time home after Mittelstadt's knock-down and suddenly Stuttgart was on the offensive. Adeyemi had a good chance to secure another lead, but his shot in the 84th minute was saved brilliantly by Nubel. But it was not meant to be for Stuttgart. Adeyemi was again at the centerpiece four minutes later when he took the ball from Guirassy from his own half and started the counter attack with Beier following. He was unselfish and passed it to Beier but the player passed it back to him and the German international scored what was supposed to be a winner in the 88th minute. But Undav was ultimately the main protagonist as his precise shot in injury time earned Stuttgart a draw and moved Borussia further away from a title chase.

GERMANY BUNDESLIGA ROUND 11

Friday

Mainz - Hoffenheim 1-1 (0-1)

/Da Costa 76 - Hanche-Olsen 8 (og)/

Saturday

Augsburg - Hamburger 1-0 (0-0)

/Kade 76/

Bayern - Freiburg 6-2 (2-2)

/Karl 22, Olise 45+2, 84, Upamecano 55, Kane 60, Jackson 78 - Suzuki 12, Manzambi 17/

Dortmund - Stuttgart 3-3 (2-0)

/Can 34(p), Beier 44, Aeyemi 89- Undav 47, 71, 90+1/

Heidenheim - M' gladbach 0-3 (0-1)

/Diks 45+1(p), Tabakovic 55, Machino 76/

Wolfsburg - Leverkusen 1-3 (0-3)

/Vavro 57 - Hofmann 9, Tapsoba 24, Tillman 33/

20.30: (3.00) Koln (3.80) Eintr.Frankfurt (2.20)

Sunday

17.30: (1.50) RB Leipzig (4.80) Werder (5.75)

19.30: (2.50) St.Pauli (3.35) Union Berlin (3.00)

****odds are subject to change**