"It's the little things" - Dortmund defender laments missed chances in Supercup loss to Bayern
Borussia Dortmund defender Waldemar Anton has rued his side's missed chances in the 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup on Sunday.
Nathaniel Brown and Michael Olise scored for the Bavarians in the first half before Fabio Silva pulled one back in the 75th minute.
BVB's comeback hopes were dashed in the 90th minute when Ramy Bensebaini was sent off for a rash challenge on Ismale Saibari.
However, the final straw was Maximilian Beier missing a golden opportunity to equalize by blazing his shot over the bar despite goal gaping in front of him.
Anton, back into the fold after missing their last two preseason games due to workload management, admitted that individual errors in defense cost Dortmund early on.
First of all, we’re disappointed – no one likes to lose a final. In the first half, we made mistakes that were far too easy to avoid. It’s the little things and the details. In a game like this, it becomes difficult to come back from that
Bayern snatched the lead in the 28th minute when an attempted clearance from Bensebaini on Olise landed the ball straight at Brown, who kept his composure before slotting it home.
The second was also down to a mistake, as Olise latched on to a poor pass from Jobe Bellingham and pranced forward before bundling it over Gregor Kobel for 2-0.
Dortmund returned from the break stronger, showing more urgency and intent going forward while Silva even reduced the arrears with a strike.
Anton felt they had enough chances to complete the turnaround but fumbled.
In the second half, though, we had plenty of moments where we could have turned the game in our favor. That didn’t work out, and of course, that’s bitter. But we’re on the right track and need to keep working now.
Debutant Giannis Konstantelias set up Serhou Guirassy in the 53rd minute but the striker wasn't positioned well enough to receive it properly.
Felix Nmecha forced a save from Manuel Neuer too while Beier was the beneficiary of perhaps their best chance of the evening, in stoppage-time.
Just moments after Olise failed to finish a fabulous run, Anton picked out Beier inside the box and the German only had Neuer to beat, but contrived to fire his shot over the bar under pressure from Jonathan Tah.
The defeat robbed Dortmund of an opportunity to end their five-year trophy drought but now turn their attention towards the Bundesliga next weekend.
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