Borussia Dortmund will have a very happy Christmas after the Bundesliga team finally claimed their first away win of the season in a dramatic fashion on Sunday.
Dortmund scored three times within six first-half minutes to take the lead against Wolfsburg, but the hosts fought back to score a goal in the 58th, while the guests had Pascal Gross sent off just four minutes later.
But Dortmund prevailed 3-1 to win away from home for the first time in their seventh league attempt of the season, having previously lost four and drawn two.
“We can also win away game in the league!,” sporting director Sebastian Kehl said.
“We were very dominant in the first half and created an incredible number of scoring chances. We would have liked to have done that more often, especially away from home,” he added.
Midfielder Julian Brandt said the match at Wolfsburg was a “good representation of the half-year we’ve had.
“We played a very food first half in which we scored three goals and put ourselves in a great position. A 3-0 lead should give you enough confidence to play through the game. But once again we got a red card away from home, conceded a stupid goal and almost only defended,” he said.
“We need to play more confidently, more maturely. That’s one of the reasons why we’ve dropped so many points,” Brandt added.
Kehl recognized that “we made it difficult for ourselves” in the second half, but still stressed: “It was a very important win. And it will be an intense January.”
The first month of 2025 will indeed be very busy for Dortmund. They resume the league action after the winter break hosting champions Bayer Leverkusen.
The January schedule also includes a Bundesliga trip to third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt and a Champions League away game at Bologna before the final round of the league phase at home against Shakhtar Donetsk.
Ahead of the break, coach Nuri Sahin called on his players to be more consistent during the rest of the season.
“We must finally learn to be consistent. The table would look a lot better. We are good. But we have to bring that to the pitch every time,” he said.
