Borussia Dortmund let a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen on Friday night. Eight careless minutes turned control into frustration, with Ludovit Reis’s long-range goal at around 10.15pm reopening a match Dortmund had appeared to have settled.
Quick facts
- Dortmund drew 2-2 after leading 2-0.
- Werder’s late fightback began with a Reis strike from distance.
- Waldemar Anton said Dortmund abandoned their plan after going 2-0 up.
- Lars Ricken described the final outcome as “pure disappointment”.
- Niko Kovac said his side had Bremen pinned back before losing control.
The finish brought back memories of Bremen’s 3-2 win in Dortmund four years earlier. Werder had overturned a 2-0 deficit in the final seven minutes then, inflicting the first major setback on a Dortmund side that eventually missed out on the title by a narrow margin.
Only Nico Schlotterbeck and Gregor Kobel from that Dortmund team were on the pitch this time. The familiar anxiety returned once Reis reduced the gap, and Bremen completed the recovery in 2026.
Dortmund had struggled badly for the first half-hour. Bremen defended deep, moved compactly and denied space between the lines. Anton, central in the back three, had 80 touches before the break as Dortmund circulated possession without finding enough penetration.
“We had an enormous amount of the ball, but probably not enough threat in the first half,” Ricken said.
The second half initially showed Dortmund at their more convincing. Two full-back substitutions, quicker passing and stronger forward momentum pushed Bremen back. Dortmund’s counter-pressing also improved sharply, and the two goals followed the direction of the game.
Then the structure disappeared. Anton said the team stopped following its plan after the second goal and did not defend well enough. Late fouls came because Dortmund players were arriving too slowly, he added, calling it “extremely annoying”.
Kovac accepted the criticism. Dortmund had Bremen “in the corner”, he said, but allowed the visitors back into the contest through fading energy, lapses in concentration and growing uncertainty.
The point offered little consolation after a 2-0 lead. Anton wants the draw to serve as a warning: Dortmund must make sure this kind of collapse does not become a repeat pattern.
