Bundesliga: BVB draws level with FC Bayern – and fears for Adeyemi's thighs

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Sprint, goal preparation, pain: Karim Adeyemi quickly realizes that something is wrong

Photo: INA FASSBENDER / AFP

Sixth win in the sixth Bundesliga game in 2023: Borussia Dortmund expanded its flawless record with a 4-1 (2-0) win over Hertha BSC.

This makes things even more exciting at the top of the table: After 21 matchdays, FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund and Union Berlin each have 43 points on their account, but Munich have a significantly better goal difference.

Despite a decent performance, Hertha lost significantly and ended the match day penultimate, two points behind the relegation place.

Chelsea match winner Karim Adeyemi (27th minute) made it 1-0 at home and set up Donyell Malen's second goal (32nd).

Shortly after Dortmund's second goal, Adeyemi had to be substituted due to an injury. Apparently he injured his thigh during a sprint just before the goal.

A diagnosis was not immediately clear.

Lucas Tousart (46th) scored for Hertha to make it 1: 2 in the meantime, Marco Reus (77th) and Julian Brandt (90th) destroyed the hopes of the Berliners again.

Dortmund's coach Edin Terzić spared some strength after Wednesday's success against Chelsea in the Champions League.

The top performers Jude Bellingham and Sébastian Haller, among others, were initially on the bench, while Reus, who had recently taken on a reserve role that was unusual for him, was new to the team.

Reus needed half an hour to justify his nomination against the Berliners.

First he missed the first BVB chance with a header (25th).

Shortly thereafter, he got the Dortmund game going again and set up Adeyemi's opening goal in a quick BVB attack, who scored with the heel to make it 1-0.

Adeyemi, who had already attracted attention with a goal against Chelsea after a long solo run, scored another goal worth seeing.

After that, the lightning-fast BVB winger was the center of attention.

With a strong start, he overtook Hertha's Filip Uremović and made a perfect pass to Malen, who played for Haller, and slotted in to make it 2-0.

As soon as he passed, Adeyemi grabbed his thigh, shortly afterwards he fell to the ground screaming and then had to be taken off the field.

Kobel prevents the compensation

The double blow was bitter for Hertha, the Berliners had BVB's attacks under control for a long time and even set their own offensive accents.

The reward followed shortly after the break when Hertha switched well after Dortmund lost the ball and Tousart scored the 1:2 from close range.

Florian Niederlechner had the next big chance in the 51st minute, but BVB keeper Gregor Kobel reacted strongly.

After that, the game flattened out a bit, and an interruption of several minutes due to a disturbance in the referee's radio traffic disrupted the flow of the game.

So it was not surprising that the next highlight came from a stationary ball: Reus scored with a perfectly kicked free kick to make it 3-1.

The in-form Brandt provided the final point with his third league goal (a total of seven goals of the season) in the last three games.

Jan