BvB’s Poblem Is Not Lack Of A Striker – Lucien Favre

Marco Reus was happy with a “dirty win” after scoring a dramatic 121st-minute extra-time winner against Greuther Furth in the German Cup on Monday.

“Furth did incredibly well. They acted very compact and kept their ranks closed,” Reus told Sky after the game, explaining that his team acted too timidly. “At times we just didn’t find the courage to play actual attacking football. In the end, we’ll gladly take a dirty win home.”

Albeit being a late hero, Reus was the main culprit of squandering several golden opportunities to decide the match in Dortmund’s favour sooner.

As more chances went begging for the Westphalians, the outcries for the club to sign a centre-forward in the wake of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (sold to Arsenal) and Michy Batshuayi (returned to Chelsea after loan) only grew louder amid recent links to Liverpool’s Divock Origi and Barcelona’s Paco Alcacer.

Dortmund coach Lucien Favre, however, insisted after the game that the lack of a true striker was not the issue on Monday. Asked whether a target man was needed to put away the side’s many created chances, the 60-year-old told Sky: “I’m being asked that questions for weeks now. I will give a simple answer: We had eight scoring chances today. Usually, that suffices.”

Although the Black and Yellows came inches close to an embarrassing cup exit, it was no reason to sound the alarm for the newly appointed manager.

Favre told his own news conference after the match: “This is normal. It was tough for us away to a second division team. We are only five, six weeks together. Some players only joined us three weeks ago. The most important thing is that we advanced.”

Goalkeeper Roman Burki, meanwhile, reprimanded his teammates for their lack of killer instinct in front of goal.