Borussia Dortmund secured their ninth point in the Champions League after beating an Austrian side SK Sturm Graz at Signal Iduna Park. Donyell Malen was the club’s only goal scorer in a 1-0 victory which put them fourth on the table for now under Liverpool, Sporting CP, and AS Monaco.
Dortmund are back to the taste of winning after losing their previous Champions League outing to Real Madrid. The victory over Graz was a good result before traveling to Zagreb at the end of the month.
Borussia Dortmund Player Ratings vs SK Sturm Graz
Goalkeeper
Alexander Meyer – 6.92
As Graz didn’t put much pressure on Dortmund, Meyer was having a normal day under the post with no significant threats from the opponents.
Defenders
Pascal Groß – 6.9
Groß helped his team to attack from the flank while at the same time defending it from the same spot.
Emre Can – 7
Can showed his versatility as a player. Today, he did well playing as a center-half, leading his teammates to intercept the opponents’ effort towards Dortmund’s goal.
Nico Schlotterbeck – 7.2
He was being a proper partner for Can at the back, committing several interceptions to prevent the opponents from scoring a goal.
Ramy Bensebaini – 6.9
His speed was helping a lot when Dortmund started an attack from the flank side. Bensebaini managed to match up well with the likes of Nmecha and Brandt.
Midfielders
Marcelo Sabitzer – 6.2
One of the senior players in the team. He showed the younger generation of Dortmund on how to play under pressure at Signal Iduna Park in a European night.
Felix Nmecha – 7.1
Nmecha played effectively on the ball both attack and defensively. His link-up with Brandt was also tremendous as Dortmund dominated the possession for most of the time in the game.
Julian Brandt – 7
He created chances and opened spaces to give the opponents pressures from the midfield.
Forwards
Maximilian Beier – 6.3
He found in hard to find the back of the net as some of his efforts were denied by the opponents’ defenders.
Jamie Bynoe-Gittens – 7.6
He posed enough threats on Graz but the goal he desired in this game, never came.
Serhou Guirassy – 7.8
Like Bynoe-Gittens, Guirassy did his best to score as early as possible but the opponents’ defenders made the process not easy.
Substitutions
Ayman Azhil – 6
Azhil came in the second half to give fresh legs for Dortmund which he really did.
Donyel Mallen – 8
He saved the day for Dortmund as he scored the side’s only goal of the game to get them three points.
Cole Campbell – 6.7
He managed to maintain the pace and most importantly the lead over Graz.
Manager
Nuri Sahin – 6.5
Nothing special from Sahin’s game plan today. The only significant decision he made was putting on Mallen who eventually scored and broke the deadlocks for Dortmund.
SK Sturm Graz Player Ratings vs Borussi Dortmund
Goalkeeper
Kjell Scherpen – 6.7
Scherpen did well under the post, denying several of Dortmund’s chances and preventing them from scoring more goals for the rest of the match.
Defenders
Jusuf Gazibegovic – 6.7
He struggled to keep up with Dortmund’s attackers as was involved in several duels over the ball.
Dimitri Lavalée – 6.1
It was not a bad performance from Lavalee as Dortmund found it hard to score more than one goal in the game.
Emanuel Aiwu – 6.5
He defended well, showing a decent partnership alongside Lavalee throughout the match.
Max Johnston – 6.5
Johnston was running back and forth on the flank to help Graz in attacking game while he also had to defend at the same time.
Midfielders
Otar Kiteishvili – 6.7
He was involved in several duels as he tried to protect the area from Dortmund’s siege. He won some and lost some but he showed a good challenge for the home side.
Tochi Chukwuani – 6.3
It was not an easy game for the Danish international, dealing with Dortmund’s top midfielders chasing over the ball.
William Böving – 6.1
Böving showed a serious effort in challenging Dortmund from the midfield area but he was also struggled to really keep up with the game.
Malick Yalcouyé – 6
He was an alternative for Graz to put a shocking counter-attack but most of his efforts were denied.
Forwards
Seedy Jatta – 6.1
His mission to score a goal in an away game was not materialized but he tried everything he could to do so.
Mika Biereth – 6.2
He didn’t have much space to make the threats for Dortmund as he had to leave the pitch earlier.
Substitutions
Erencan Yardimci – 6.6
His appearance on the pitch didn’t help much as Dortmund were too tough to break into.
Lovro Zvonarek – 6.5
He tried to anticipate Dortmund’s attacking plan as early as possible from the midfield but still couldn’t save his team from a defeat.
Tomi Horvat – 6.7
Just like any other Graz players, Horvat put on a serious performance to keep up with Dortmund.
NIklas Geyrhofer – 6.6
He came on to give fresh legs on the defense department but still couldn’t save his team from heading home to Austria without a point.
Manager
Christian Ilzer – 6.2
His tactical plan was not enough to break the opponents’ plan. He tried his best to keep up with Dortmund but ended up conceding a goal five minutes before the added time.
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FAQ’s
What was the result of the game between Borussia Dortmund vs SK Sturm Graz?
Dortmund beat the visitors with one goal to nil.
Where was the game between Dortmund vs SK Sturm Graz taking place?
The game was taking place at Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund on Monday night.
Who was the best performing player in the game between Dortmund and SK Sturm Graz?
Donyell Mallen was the best performing player in the game as he scored the only goal of the matchup
Who was the worst-performing player in the game between Dortmund and SK Sturm Graz?
Graz’s Malick Yalcouye was the worts-performing player of the game.