Borussia Dortmund won their away match against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, despite a rather unusual decision by the referees. Marcel Sabitzer played a prominent role for BVB but was denied a hat-trick. RB Leipzig remains ahead of Dortmund in the Bundesliga following an easy victory over VfL Wolfsburg.
For Dortmund, the visit to Mönchengladbach was much more than just an interlude amidst their clashes with Atlético Madrid in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
BVB had lost the first leg in Madrid on Wednesday, and the return match was scheduled in just three days at Signal Iduna Park. Moreover, the fourth spot in the Bundesliga standings was at stake at Borussia-Park.
With Ian Maatsen starting and Donyell Malen on the bench, the visitors, who saw Sébastien Haller exit early due to injury, took a 0-2 lead within the first half-hour. Sabitzer scored twice in a span of six minutes. First, he was sent through by Nico Schlotterbeck and scored beautifully. Then, the Austrian converted a penalty after Nathan Ngoumou fouled Schlotterbeck.
Mönchengladbach got back into the game before halftime through former Ajax player Maximilian Wöber, who scored from a corner kick. Shortly after the start of the second half, Dortmund thought they had made it 1-3 through a second penalty converted by Sabitzer, but after the shot was successful, the referees, remarkably, reversed their decision to award the penalty. The VAR prompted referee Florian Badstübner to review the previously assessed tackle by goalkeeper Jonas Omlin on Karim Adeyemi. Badstübner agreed with the VAR and surprisingly awarded a free kick to Mönchengladbach instead. It later emerged that the referee had not blown the whistle when Sabitzer took the penalty.
Shortly after the unusual scene in Mönchengladbach, Malen came on for the visitors. Not long after, Adeyemi was sent off, having received his second yellow card. The home team, now with a man advantage, pressed for an equalizer, but Dortmund held firm and, thanks to the narrow victory, remains in pursuit of RB Leipzig.
RB Leipzig is locked in a battle with Dortmund for fourth place in the Bundesliga. The Red Bulls hosted VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday afternoon. At the home team, Xavi Simons was in the starting lineup. Leipzig took the lead just shy of the 15-minute mark: Dani Olmo scored from the edge of the penalty area. After just over an hour, the score moved to 2-0. On an assist from Simons, Benjamin Sesko netted the home team's second goal. Former Vitesse striker Loïs Openda secured the final score with his 22nd league goal of the season, making it 3-0. With this commanding victory, Leipzig stays ahead of Dortmund on goal difference.
FSV Mainz 05, with Sepp van den Berg starting, did excellent business in their battle for survival in the Bundesliga. Hoffenheim, starting Wout Weghorst, initially took the lead with a goal from Pavel Kaderabek, but the home team made a strong comeback in the second half. After Jonathan Burkardt scored the equalizer, former PSV player Phillipp Mwene put Mainz ahead. Brajan Gruda and Karim Onisiwo finalized the score at 4-1. With this victory, Mainz is now just one point behind the safe position held by VfL Bochum.
VfL Bochum dismissed former Vitesse coach Thomas Letsch earlier this week and will finish the season with interim coach Heiko Butscher. The former player and youth coach of the club hoped to take a significant step towards safety with a victory over FC Heidenheim. Heidenheim took the lead nine minutes from time through an own goal by defender Keven Schlotterbeck, but he redeemed his unfortunate moment by scoring the equalizer in stoppage time.
