VfL Bochum 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
(Losilla 5' – Adeyemi 7')
Ruhrstadion, Bochum

"You're no beauty," sings German rocker Herbert Grönemeyer in his famous ode to his beloved city of Bochum. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Friday night's Ruhr derby between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund wasn't aesthetically pleasing; it was chaotic, fast-paced, end-to-end and littered with errors, mainly of the offensive variety but, at least from a black and yellow perspective, also refereeing errors.

But above all, under the floodlights and the rain at a raucous Ruhrstadion, it proved to be every bit the stumbling block that Borussia Dortmund feared it might be in their bid for a first Bundesliga title since 2012.

Kehl: 'The referee has cost us two points'

After their recent poor results away at Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart, head coach Edin Terzic and the Dortmund hierarchy were critical of themselves and their team. But in Bochum, fingers were pointed elsewhere.

"They weren't just unfortunate decisions, they were absolutely incorrect," said head coach Edin Terzic after neither referee Sascha Stegemann nor video assistant referee Robert Hartmann flagged a foul on Karim Adeyemi in the 65th minute, nor an apparent handball from Erhan Masovic in the box in injury time.

"What annoys me the most is that [the officials] haven't done everything they could to avoid incorrect decisions. I find that unfair," continued Terzic. "My team has been fighting for a long time for the chance to hold the Bundesliga shield in their hands. It could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Sporting director Sebastian Kehl was less diplomatic, launching a full-on broadside to reporters underneath the main stand at full-time.

"It's a joke that, with the means the referee has at his disposal, with five games to go, when the title is on the line, he doesn't even have a look at [the two penalty claims]," raged the 43-year-old.

"He has to look at them! Is he 100% sure he's got it right? Could there be any discussion? It's negligent, it's cowardly, it's wrong and it's shameful. The referee decided the game tonight and cost us two points."

Dortmund's 'turbos' fail to fire

As understandable as the anger was, Terzic and Kehl will also know that those decisions would have had less bearing on the game had their players converted more than just one of a string of first-half chances.

A day earlier, Kicker magazine's front page had hailed in-form striking duo Adeyemi and Donyell Malen as "Dortmund's title turbos."

After a poor first half of the season, the pair have found form in 2023, with Malen in particular scoring six and setting up three more in the previous five Bundesliga games. On Friday, however, the turbos revved and whirred, but never truly ignited.

Malen provided another assist for Adeyemi to tap home at the back post just two minutes after Bochum captain Anthony Losilla had fired the hosts into an early lead, but the pair were otherwise guilty of missing a string of subsequent opportunities.

As was Marco Reus. Brought on as a substitute in the 73rd minute a day after signing a one-year contract extension, the Dortmund captain immediately linked up with Raphael Guerreiro and found himself in the box, but opted not to pull the trigger.

Jude Bellingham also saw a shot well saved by Manuel Riemann, and Mats Hummels thought he’d won it for the visitors late on, but his header was ruled out for offside.

Advantage Bayern Munich

That call was correct. But the decision not to review the handball in the immediate build-up was not, and Terzic was booked for his protests.

Bayern Munich can return to the top of the table on Sunday when they face bottom-of-the-table Hertha Berlin, but Dortmund will take some comfort in the knowledge that three of their remaining four fixtures are at home — and not in the Ruhrstadion maelstrom, "Deep in the West," as Grönemeyer’s song goes, in Bochum.

But it's once again out of their hands.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru