Bundesliga: Bynoe-Gittens ‘makes the difference’ as Dortmund find right mentality
SC Freiburg 1-3 Borussia Dortmund, Europa-Park-Stadion, Freiburg
(Gregoritsch 35′ – Bynoe-Gittens 77′, Moukoko 83′, Wolf 88′)
“Wolfy! Matchwinner! You f****** beauty!” shouted Jude Bellingham at Marius Wolf, the scorer of Borussia Dortmund’s third goal, as he raced down the tunnel and into the visitors’ dressing room, which was already rocking to chants of “Youssoufa! Youssoufa!” in honor of Youssoufa Moukoko, the scorer of the second.
The scorer of the first, however, had calmed down somewhat, and was chatting to DW in a much more serene mood.
“If you don’t shoot, you don’t score!” said Jamie Bynoe-Gittens of his first ever Bundesliga goal, a speculative long-range effort which SC Freiburg goalkeeper Mark Flekken had fumbled badly on its way into the net.
“In fairness, I thought there was a chance [of it going in] because I hit it with a lot of power, and the next thing you know, it was in and I was just running around in circles, celebrating. I didn’t know where to go! OK, it was a bit of a fluke, but a goal’s a goal.”
It was a strike, 13 minutes after coming on as a substitute and with just 13 minutes remaining, which got Borussia Dortmund back on level terms in a game which hosts Freiburg had deservedly led since the 35th minute.
But the English teenager wasn’t finished. Seven minutes later, dribbling in from the left across the box, he suddenly stabbed a cute little pass into Julian Brandt. Brandt turned and found Moukoko, and the German teenager fired Dortmund into the lead.
“I was going to shoot there, too, actually,” he admitted. “But I saw Julian in a better position, so I played him in, and he and Youssoufa did the rest.”
Terzic: ‘I wanted Jamie to make a difference’
Much of the prematch focus ahead of Dortmund’s trip to Freiburg had been dominated by center-back Nico Schlotterbeck’s return to the Black Forest to face his former club, and by Anthony Modeste’s Dortmund debut after joining from Cologne this week, a last-minute replacement for Sebastian Haller.
Both started, and both had eventful games, but it was Bynoe-Gittens and Moukoko, two young second-half super-subs at the opposite end of the age scale to Modeste and at the opposite end of the pitch to Schlotterbeck, who made the biggest impact.
“I just reminded Jamie about things we’ve spoken about a lot in the past,” explained head coach Edin Terzic, when asked by DW what he told the 18-year-old Londoner before sending him on.
“I told him: I didn’t want him to just go with the flow of the game; I wanted him to make an active difference. Jamie has incredible abilities to accelerate the pace of the game and find solutions in close spaces, and that’s exactly what we needed tonight.”
Bynoe-Gittens was born in London and came through the youth ranks at Reading and Chelsea before moving to Manchester City in 2018. He joined Borussia Dortmund in 2020, following in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho, but his progress was initially slow due to injury and the pandemic.
He made four first-team appearances under Marco Rose at the end of last season, but it seems likely that he’ll get even more chances under Terzic, a young coach who is already showing that he no qualms about putting his faith in youth.
Compared to Bynoe-Gittens (18) and Moukoko (17), Dortmund’s new defensive anchor Schlotterbeck is already something of an elder statesman at 22, but he’s been equally impressed by his offensive teammates.
“Jamie has this implicit naturalness to his game,” he told reporters. “You saw that with his shot for the goal, but also in the way he helped set up the second. Youssoufa had another good game. The dynamic in the team is great, we all get on well and we have to make sure that continues.”
Schlotterbeck: ‘I wanted to send a message, I wanted us to wake up’
Schlotterbeck’s own performance upon his return to Freiburg was more mixed — and indeed more representative of Borussia Dortmund’s evening at the new Europa-Park-Stadion before the three late goals.
He started well enough, outmuscling Freiburg forward Michael Gregoritsch in two early physical duels which at one point left the Austrian waving his arms and shouting in frustration.
But Gregoritsch had his revenge when he put Freiburg ahead just after the half-hour mark, with Schlotterbeck nowhere to be seen, neither as Matthias Ginter met Christian Günter’s cross, nor when Gregoritsch nodded home.
Schlotterbeck then felt the wrath of his former coach Christian Streich when he clattered into Ritsu Doan on the near touchline, prompting a furious reaction from Streich and the Freiburg bench, and earning himself a yellow card.
Nico Schlotterbeck is trying to become a leader at Dortmund, even though he joined only recently
“I wanted to send a message,” he told reporters. “I wanted our team to wake up.”
Schlotterbeck is making his presence felt in Dortmund. During last Saturday’s win over Bayer Leverkusen, he could be seen celebrating tackles won and pumping his fists towards the Südtribüne (Dortmund’s south stand), while tough challenges on Bynoe-Gittens and Raphael Guerreiro in training have also left their mark, as local paper Revier Sport reported this week.
“We need more emotion in our game,” continued Schlotterbeck. A lot of us didn’t have the best game today but we had a better mentality after the 65th minute. When we play like that, we’re good.”
After years of accusations of a weak mentality, Terzic wants Borussia Dortmund to be tougher. But Schlotterbeck’s comments didn’t go down well with the head coach, who seemed to feel his defender’s comments about sending a message went too far and said he’d speak to him.
Terzic’s balancing act
Such is the balance that Terzic is trying to strike.
Borussia Dortmund now have six points from two Bundesliga games against tough opponents, games in which they have stood their ground and worked hard, but in which they’ve also had significant slices of luck, from Flekken’s weak wrists in Freiburg or Leverkusen’s profligacy in front of goal last weekend.
But they’ve also produced goals of genuine quality from talented, exciting young players, and the spirit within the dressing room is unmistakeable.
That much was clear in Freiburg and, for the time being, it’s all Borussia Dortmund supporters will want. “The journey goes on and on,” they sang in the away end on Friday night. But where to?