Bayern 2-2 Dortmund: Guirassy sparks fightback, Fábio Silva equalises in 89th minute

Bayern had this game in their hands twice, and gave it away twice. They lost Ismael Saibari in the 29th minute and Serge Gnabry in the 31st. Two starters gone in two minutes, and yet it was Bayern who dictated the game.

Dortmund thought they had scored first in the 34th minute, but Jobe Bellingham's goal was ruled out after a VAR review. Four minutes later, Konrad Laimer opened the scoring at his second attempt, after a misplaced pass in Dortmund's half. 1-0 at the break, and nothing undeserved about it.

The second half turned everything around. In the 56th minute, Harry Kane missed a penalty that could have put Bayern two goals ahead. Four minutes later, Serhou Guirassy equalised with his only shot of the game, set up by Carney Chukwuemeka. Dayot Upamecano restored Bayern's lead in the 66th, prodding home after a Kane header. Bayern then missed further chances to put the game to bed, and Fábio Silva, on in the 76th minute, equalised in the 89th from a pass by Konstantinos Karetsas, also a substitute.

4.53 expected goals, two goals scored

Bayern generated 4.53 expected goals to Dortmund's 0.77, and had 23 shots to 12, 18 of them from inside the box to 7. The gap is considerable. It narrows once you look at shots on target: 5 for Bayern, 6 for Dortmund. Ten Bayern efforts were off target, and eight others were blocked. Possession (56% to 44%) and passes played (603 to 483) point the same way as the shots, without changing the final outcome.

Two lines sum up the evening: Kane had six shots without a single one on target, and Michael Olise five, also none on target. That is eleven attempts without making the keeper work. At the other end, Guirassy and Fábio Silva took four shots between them, three on target, and scored two goals. Urbig made four saves, Gregor Kobel three. The 4.53 figure measures the quality of the chances; on its own it does not prove that a result was stolen.

Four goals, the last one made by two substitutes

Laimer's goal came from a mistake in Dortmund's build-up: Felix Nmecha's pass towards Daniel Svensson was too weak and was picked off by the Bayern man, who scored at his second attempt. Guirassy's equaliser came from a more constructed move, with Chukwuemeka cutting into the box before laying it off for a first-time finish at the near post.

Bayern's second came from a Joshua Kimmich corner, which Kane headed on at the far post for Upamecano. The last was the work of two substitutes, Karetsas and Fábio Silva, a little over a minute from the end of normal time.

The 56th minute cost Bayern dearly

The turning point came within four minutes. In the 56th, Kane had the chance to make it 2-0 and leave Dortmund two goals down. He missed. In the 60th, Guirassy equalised. Bayern retook the lead, but never again found a chance to kill the game off so easily.

SNA analysis: this draw punishes above all the wastefulness of the more dangerous side, rather than rewarding any Dortmund game plan. But it would be unfair to overlook Dortmund's work: Nico Schlotterbeck won all his duels (six out of six) and made four tackles, Kouakou Joane Gadou made five tackles, and Niko Kovač's team had one more shot on target than Bayern. Coming back twice at the Allianz Arena demands that you make your mark in the game's decisive spells, and Dortmund did that.

Bayern's volume went through Joshua Kimmich (92 passes) and Aleksandar Pavlović (87), and Alphonso Davies completed five dribbles out of eleven. Bayern had no trouble getting into the box. For the hosts, the worry also lies in the departures: two changes used up by the 31st minute, and absences to manage before they turn to Europe.

Kovač's substitutes earned the draw

For Bayern, the changes were forced at first: Nathaniel Brown for Saibari in the 29th minute, Josip Stanišić for Gnabry in the 31st. Lennart Karl then replaced Olise in the 84th, five minutes before Dortmund's equaliser.

For Dortmund, Kovač got it right. Marcel Sabitzer and Karetsas came on in the 67th for Chukwuemeka and Maximilian Beier, Fábio Silva in the 76th for Nmecha, and Julian Ryerson and Samuele Inácio in the 87th. The 89th-minute goal involved two of these substitutes.

Guirassy clinical, Saibari stopped in his tracks

Guinea international Serhou Guirassy played 90 minutes and had just one shot, for a goal that revived the game. He also won three duels out of eight and played one key pass. SNA rating: 8.5, the best of the match.

Morocco international Ismael Saibari played only 29 minutes, long enough for two shots, one on target, before going off after a collision with Kobel. The club announced a torn syndesmosis in his right ankle and said he will be out indefinitely. His game was too short to be judged.

Tied at the top, Europe on the horizon

Both clubs remain unbeaten in the Bundesliga and have 18 points after eight matchdays. Bayern stay top on goal difference (+19 against +8), ahead of Freiburg, third, two points back. The Champions League arrives on Tuesday 3 November for Bayern, away to Atlético Madrid. Dortmund host Real Betis the next day, Wednesday 4 November.

SNA man of the match: Serhou Guirassy

One shot, one goal, at the moment Dortmund needed a response. Four minutes after Kane's missed penalty, Guirassy transformed a game that Dortmund had been struggling to control. He won only three duels out of eight, and his influence is not that of a player who weighed in from start to finish. He remains the one who tipped the evening, which earns him the SNA 8.5, the best rating of the match.