Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa came off the bench to secure Borussia Dortmund’s dramatic 2-1 win at Wolfsburg on Saturday, which trimmed Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga lead to five points.Kagawa netted on 93 minutes with virtually the last kick of the game, just moments after Wolfsburg defender Ricardo Rodriguez had converted a penalty on the stroke of 90 minutes which cancelled out Marco Reus’ first-half goal. It was Japan midfielder Kagawa’s fourth goal of the season as Dortmund lived up to their ‘Monsters of Mentality’ nickname by fighting until the whistle. Kagawa came on for Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan on 55 minutes and converted Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s final pass for Dortmund’s winner. “It was a great goal which decided the game,” said Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel. Tuchel was sent to the stands in the game’s final moments for kicking out at an advertising hoarding at the Volkswagen Arena following a heated exchange of words with the Wolfsburg bench. “I was very disappointed that we conceded the penalty, then we scored and I kicked the banner out of a mixture of joy and frustration, said Tuchel. “I had the feeling after the penalty that we calmly played football just as we had done in the first 35 minutes. “It’s amazing that despite everything we managed to win, but I found it over the top that I was sent to the stands.” Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking said they shot themselves in the foot by giving the ball away straight from kick off following the Rodriguez penalty. . “After the kick-off we gave the ball away and you will be punished, even if you have put in a big effort,” said the Wolfsburg coach. “At the start of the game, we made an unspeakable amount of errors and we gave the first goal away. “It took us until the first half an hour to get the game under control.” Wolfsburg must now prepare for their crunch Champions League game at home to Manchester United on Tuesday. “We must win the game to progress, so we have to get back to business and prepare for what is a huge game for us,” said Hecking as his side look to keep their dreams alive of reaching the knock-out stages. By AFP |
