German League Cup Semifinal: Mainz 0:1 Borussia Dortmund
Perisic heads Borussia into the final: A dominant BVB claim 1-0 win over Mainz
[19.07.] Borussia Dortmund have reached the final of the Liga-Total-Cup 2011. The German champions beat 1.FSV Mainz 05 1-0 (0-0) in the semi-final and will face the winners of Hamburger SV versus Bayern Munich. Perisic scored the winner for BVB in the 33rd minute while Götze and Löwe were denied by the woodwork.
Borussia Dortmund were without six regulars from last season´s championship-winning side: Schmelzer, Bender, Barrios, Kuba and da Silva as well as Sahin who moved to Real Madrid. Since Owomoyela was also not available (Piszczek filled in for Schmelzer on the left back position), Grosskreutz was moved into the back four, and did a great job!
Kehl and Leitner took up the two midfield holding places while Götze, Kagawa and Perisic played behind Lewandowski, BVB´s lone striker. The Black ´n´ Yellows started the game with their tried-and-tested 4-2-3-1, Mainz with a 4-3-2-1, the so-called "Christmas tree" formation. The match was played over two halves of 30 minutes each, and Mainz struggled to get into the game from the start while BVB dominated proceedings from the first whistle. An Ivanschitz long-range effort was the only chance of note for the home side in the first half.
It took BVB all off four minutes to carve out their first opportunity. After Bungert gave the ball away, Kagawa set up Götze, but the lively midfielder was denied by the post. In the 25th minute, Müller had to use both fists to push Perisic´s fierce effort away, and two minutes later the Mainz goalkeeper was again on hand to deny Götze who before had broken away from Caligiuri. The last chance of the first half fell to Kagawa who, just before the break, went close from six yards.
Lukasz Piszczek sends in a cross after breaking down the right wing. [pictures: firo]
Two minutes after the interval, the German champions finally took a deserved lead. A cleared corner found its way to Götze who chipped a soft cross to the centre where Perisic jumped highest to power home an unstoppable header into the left corner. It was his first goal in a BVB shirt, and Perisic looked visibly relieved.
The Black ´n´ Yellows continued to be the better team, and Löwe, who came on for Piszczek, let fly from 30 yards only to be denied by the crossbar. In the 49th minute, Götze dribbled his way into the area, but his shot went wide. Lewandowski then went close with a header from a Perisic cross (50 mins.). Mainz´s only chance of the second half came in the 56th minute when Ujah sent a header into the side-netting (56).
Mainz: H. MĂĽller - Pospech, Bungert, Kirchhoff, Caligiuri - Baumgartlinger (46. Risse), Polanski, Ivanschitz (53. Yilmaz) - N. MĂĽller, Choupo-Moting - Allagui (53. Ujah).
BVB: Weidenfeller - Piszczek (42. Löwe), Subotic (31. Santana), Hummels, Großkreutz - Kehl, Leitner - Götze, Kagawa, Perisic - Lewandowski.
Referee: Welz. Attendance: approx. 30.000.
Goal: 0-1 Perisic (33., Götze).