Tuchel hails ´extraordinary´ Dortmund reaction

Thomas Tuchel lauded Borussia Dortmund’s reaction after they recorded a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Friday.

Dortmund were dealt an early blow when Mark Uth opened the scoring after just three minutes, but Mario Gotze levelled shortly afterwards with a fine finish.

Sandro Wagner then restored Hoffenheim’s lead after seemingly pushing his opponent at a corner, before Dortmund got more bad news when Marco Reus was sent off for receiving two yellow cards.

Pierre-Emerick Abameyang salvaged a draw after the break with his 100th goal for the club, but Dortmund’s bad luck was not over as they lost Ousmane Dembele to injury, the striker carried off on a stretcher following a collision with Benjamin Hubner.

The problem does not appear to be too serious, though, and Tuchel was quick to compliment his side for the way they dealt with their misfortune.

“We were aware that it would be a very difficult away game,” Tuchel told reporters.

“And everything that could go wrong did go wrong for us. I am obviously talking about what happened before the 2-1 and about Reus’ dismissal.

“And then Dembele’s substitution was another disadvantage. He has suffered some strong bruises after taking two blows to his knee. 

“That made things even more complicated than they already were. But we reacted to everything that happened in an extraordinary way. In my opinion, we deserved a draw after such an unfortunate game.

“We took more shots than Hoffenheim. We were determined at half-time that we would not leave without at least one point.

“We wanted to give everything to fight for at least a draw and I think that was clear for everyone to see. The team deserves a major compliment for that.”