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Donyell Malen came closest to scoring a goal in Heidenheim
Photo: Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images
Borussia Dortmund's winning streak is broken: BVB couldn't get past a 0-0 draw in the away game in Heidenheim. The draw is Dortmund's first point loss after three wins in the new year. Dortmund is fourth in the table with 37 points. After the seventh game without a defeat, Heidenheim has 24 points and is in ninth place, but can still slip at the weekend.
BVB coach Edin Terzić had to make do without a handful of stars for the guest appearance on the Ostalb: Gregor Kobel, Julian Brandt and Marco Reus were not available, as was the case in the 3-1 win over Bochum, and winter signing Jadon Sancho was also dropped at short notice with muscular problems.
The young Dortmund starting eleven with talents like Youssoufa Moukoko and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens then had difficulty keeping up with the pace and intensity of Heidenheim. The promoted team had the first big chance to take the lead when Tim Kleindienst intercepted a sloppy pass from Salih Özcan in the Dortmund penalty area - and narrowly missed the goal from Kobel representative Alexander Meyer, who was not fully on the post (14th).
Malen's offside goal doesn't count
Instead of being annoyed about the missed high-class player, Heidenheim remained poisonous and often tried to use speed from the wing, from where Jan-Niklas Beste caused danger again with a cross a short time later (18th). Dortmund needed individual actions to stand out on the offensive: After a through pass from Moukoko, Donyell Malen sprinted deep and seemed to make it 1-0 for the guests from a tight angle (26th). However, according to video evidence, the goal did not count due to a narrow offside position.
No more offensive power on the bench
After ten goals from the last three league games, Dortmund's attack was otherwise disappointing. At the half-time whistle, BVB had 70% possession of the ball, but did not fire a single dangerous shot. Things only got better to a limited extent after the break, Terzić was no longer able to improve offensively anyway: with the defensive Emre Can and Marius Wolf as well as the midfield debutant Ole Pohlmann as substitutes after 59 minutes, Dortmund lacked the impetus forward, Niclas Füllkrug's powerful shot from 20 meters was still the best chance (85th).
The Heidenheim team, whose top scorer Beste had to leave the field after 70 minutes, hardly had any opportunities. Kevin Sessa had the chance for a lucky punch with a flying header, but the ball flew just past the far post (90th + 1).