3 problems that BVB's win over Frankfurt exposed

Borussia Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 in the Bundesliga on Saturday as Maximilian Beier came off the bench to score the winner for them with a fabulous strike from range in the 80th minute.

Having drawn their last two league matches prior to this, the BVB were edging agonizingly closer to a third stalemate here after failing to find the net for a vast majority of the game.

Chances came flying in during an entertaining first half, but Dortmund lacked the cutting edge to make them count until Beier's produced a moment of magic late on.

Here are three big issues in the side that were exposed during Saturday's clash:

1) First-half blues

It's been a worrying pattern this season. Borussia Dortmund have consistently struggled to score in the first half of a Bundesliga match and Saturday's fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt was the fifth such game in seven where they ended the opening 45 minutes without a goal.

While the BVB genuinely failed to create any meaningful goalscoring opportunities in some of those games, here it was a case of missed chances. Dortmund were creative enough to find a few openings but lacked the cutting edge to make them count and went into the break without netting a single goal yet again.

2) Chronic reliance on substitutes

One of Borussia Dortmund's greatest strengths right now is their ability to turn a game around by making some wise substitutions. But on the flip side, the side has come to depend on such moments more than what Niko Kovac would have liked.

Saturday's fixture, won by two substitutes Jobe Bellingham and Maximilian Beier, exposed their over-reliance on moments of quality from their players off the bench instead of clinically killing the game off long before that. Such a trait might work against struggles team like Frankfurt, but won't win them the title altogether.

3) Serhou Guirassy's goal drought

After starting the campaign with goals in back-to-back games against Hamburger and Hoffenheim, Guirassy's exploits have dried up. His scoreless streak extended to five games after drawing another blank against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday as Dortmund are forced to look elsewhere for goods.

It's one of the biggest causes for concern for Kovac's side right now. In fact, it's only his second worst run in the competition since joining the BVB in 2024 as the Guinean had gone seven consecutive top-flight matches without a goal between November and January last season.

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