Borussia Dortmund overturned a 3-0 deficit in the first leg of their Europa League play-off with Norwegian side Odds BK to record an astonishing 4-3 victory last night. The Bundesliga side stunned supporters in the Skagerak Arena to win the away tie and give themselves every chance of qualifying for the Europa League proper.
After just over 20 minutes, things had gone from bad to worse for BVB – Jone Samuelsen gave the hosts the lead after just 13 seconds, before two quick goals from Fredrik Nordkvelle and Espen Ruud after mistakes in the Dortmund defence threatened to end the tie before it had even begun. But Thomas Tuchel’s side had other ideas – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back ten minutes before half time, before Shinji Kagawa got BVB back into the game two minutes after the restart. Aubameyang got his second to level the scores with 15 minutes to go, and then a late Henrikh Mkhitaryan header secured a memorable comeback in the dying minutes.
Dortmund defence in a daze
Thomas Tuchel made five changes to the side that blew away Borussia Mönchengladbach on the opening day of the Bundesliga season, with Germany international Marco Reus rested and not making the trip. Gonzalo Castro made his first competitive bow for BVB, but the ex-Leverkusen midfielder couldn’t have made a worse start – he was beaten by Rafik Zekhnini in the first move of the match, and the 17-year-old crossed in for Samuelsen who headed home to make it 1-0. Dortmund almost replied instantly however, as Shinji Kagawa hit the bar just 90 seconds later.
The Bundesliga outfit did begin to assert their quality and authority on the match, whilst the side that current lies fifth in the Norwegian first division were happy to wait for their opportunities on the counter. That chance did come in the 19th minute, when good work by ex-Frankfurt player Olivier Occean set up Nordkvelle to double the hosts’ lead.
Aubameyang begins the comeback
But that wasn’t all – Germany international goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller was left helpless just three minutes later by a Ruud free kick from all of 30 yards, and when Mkhitaryan became the second BVB player to hit the woodwork in the opening half hour you began to get the feeling that perhaps it wasn’t BVB’s day. Odds were looking a safe bet for the win, but Aubameyang pulled a vital goal back for the Bundesliga side when he converted a rebound to give his team something to cheer about before half time.
After the break, Dortmund piled on the pressure and boxed the hosts in their own half. Kagawa fired home a volley to make it 3-2 after good work from Sven Bender, before Ilkay Gündogan came close from the edge of the box just minutes later and Aubameyang struck the frame of the goal yet again.
BVB hit the jackpot through Mkhitaryan
Shortly after, the striker was able to find the back of the net for his second goal of the game, making it 3-3 from the middle of the penalty area after some excellent play by Marcel Schmelzer. The pair almost linked up again to give BVB the lead, but Aubameyang was unable to convert. Gündogan then became the fourth Dortmund player of the night to strike the woodwork, and it looked ever more likely that Odds would be taking home a share of the profit.
But there was one hand left to play – Kagawa dribbled the ball one last time into the Odds penalty area and crossed to Mkhitaryan who headed home from inside the six-yard box. Ilkay Gündogan came close to adding Dortmund’s fifth, but was denied by Odds goalkeeper Sondre Rossbach.
