Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Werder Bremen: Talking points as BVB suffer late collapse
Borussia Dortmund's perfect start to the 2026-27 Bundesliga season just ended with a 2-2 draw against Werder Bremen on Friday as the BVB let slip a two-goal lead.
Daniel Svensson and Nico Schlotterbeck gave them a two-goal cushion in the last 10 minutes of normal time and a fifth win on the bounce appeared likely.
However, the River Islanders produced a late surge to score twice in a space of four minutes - through Ludovit Reis in the 88th minute and Niclas Fullkrug in the 92nd minute - and wipe out BVB's advantage.
Here are key talking points from the match:
1) Dortmund became passive after going 2-0 up
Without a goal for 80 minutes, the BVB kept piling up the pressure and were rewarded for it with two goals in a space of five minutes and led 2-0 in the dying embers. Three points were sealed. Or at least, that's what they believed, much to their own detriment as Bremen fought back and snatched a point.
Both goals that Dortmund conceded on the night showed some shocking defensive ineptness. Nico Schlotterbeck's attempt to clear the ball away was intercepted by Oskar Wojcik, and Reis raced on to it before prancing in between two BVB players - Felix Nmecha and Joey Veerman - and attempting a shot.
So much time and space on the ball was always heading to a disaster, but Dortmund refused to learn their lesson and failed to mark Fullkrug when a corner was played in. The striker, like Reis, made them pay for it by placing his header beyond Gregor Kobel and into the back of the net.
2) Schlotterbeck is a valuable player
Shrugging off all injury concerns, Schlotterbeck started the match for Dortmund and delivered another fine display, making his presence felt at both ends of the pitch to demonstrate just how valuable he is in the side.
His positioning was on point and tracked every attempt from Bremen to enter the final third. The defender registered four clearances as well as one interception and block each as the visitors were finding it hard to breach BVB's defense in the first half.
Bundesliga's most prolific defender last season, Schlotterbeck then added the icing on the cake with a late goal to make it 2-0 as the German international was having flawless campaign until the 88th minute, when it all went downhill for him and his team.
3) Same old tendency of slipping up
How many times have we seen this from Dortmund now? They score a goal or two, only to then let the lead slip right through their fingers. Although the side managed to find late equalizers or winners in some of the matches, the BVB didn't find enough time for that here. That's the issue with being unable to close the game out.
Dortmund left the backdoor open by allowing Bremen have the ball and occupy advance positions in their half, eventually being made to pay for it. But there was also the shockingly poor man-marking from the BVB: Reis just whizzed past Nmecha and Veerman like they were training cones, while no one marked Fullkrug when he raced forward to connect with a incoming cross.
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