Union don’t have good memories of the Westfalenstadion. From the defeat on penalties in the cup, back when Steven Skrzybski scored a beauty, to last season’s decimation, they  were yet to win at Germany’s largest stadium before kick off. They still are after it.

For all their efforts, for all their fight, and despite an excellent start, Serhou Guirassy simply had other ideas. He seems to enjoy playing Union more than most, and on a gorgeous Sunday evening in Dortmund he upped his  tally against them to eight goals in six games.

But at first it seemed like the guests might break the hex. With his first touch in his first Bundesliga start since Union’s trip to Augsburg in April 2024 – 506 days long - Alex Král bundled the feverishly received Jobe Bellingham off the ball. The utility man against the great hope. And as this game progressed this would be a neat summation of the day, or at least the start. His team-mate, left wing-back Robert Skov did the same a moment later on Yan Couto, though his tackle was cleaner, sharper, and won the ball. Couto would get his own back later on. 

But initially, Union were quick in the tackle and look to get the ball moving forwards as quickly as possible. With only three minutes played Chritopher Trimmel launched a fantastic ball, high and looping, a falling satellite of a cross, that dropped just a little too high for Andrej Ilić to get enough contact on to trouble BVB keeper, Gregor Kobel.

Ilić reached the next one though, this time from Danilho Doekhi at the back, knocking it down for Ilyas Ansah; this was football elegant in its simplicity, clear in its intentions. Leopold Querfeld hit long for Trimmel on the right, Skov aimed for Ansah in the box, low and hard from the left.

Dortmund, however, would start to take the game by the scruff of the neck as time passed and Union’s dominance started to with slightly.  Their first chance came when Serhou Guirassy shot just over after 15 minutes having found space in the box, breaking in from the left. But if that was a chance he could have taken, the next he arguably should have. Tom Rothe played the ball back towards Frederik Rönnow, but underhit it, watching on as Guirassy swooped. Rönnow is made of strong stuff, however, and stood up as long as he could, winning the game of chicken with the Guinean international, stopping his shot with his legs, the grabbing the rebound at head height. The 4,000 Unioner in the stands could breathe again.

But only briefly. Rönnow’s next save from Guirassy was a gem, flinging himself in between Guirassy and the ball as Rami Bensebaini found a sudden gap in Union’s back three. With seven minutes to go it was Rothe who dived in at Guirassy’s feet as he tried to create an inch of space to shoot from on the turn.

Union weren’t to be without chances, themselves. Ilić found himself on the charge, getting a head start on Aaron Anselmino whose header back left Kobel caught in a fog of confusion, unsure whether to come or go. Ilić won the footrace but watched on as the ball, clipped with the outside of his boot, rolled agonisingly wide of the back post.

If Baumgart was happy so far, his afternoon would be spoiled as Guirassy took his next chance. Couto cut inside from the right and wafted the ball with his wrong foot to the striker’s feet. Though he seemed to bundle over Querfeld as he won it, he lifted the ball up and past the despairing Rönnow who could do little to stop the close-range shot. Dortmund went into the break a goal up.

Baumgart made no changes at the break; his side were quick to try and turn things around, themselves. Ilić was a whisker away from equalising almost immediately. Trimmel launched a corner in that the  Serbian striker met with a powerfully – his head still bandaged following a clash of heads with Bellingham in the first half that had caused a stop in play and a change of crimson stained shirts. Kobel made a fine reaction stop, palming the ball up and away.

Bellingham, his own eyebrow patched up, was involved in another clash when he and Doekhi came together, leaving the Dutchman on the floor this time. Dortmund’s next attempts to attack fell down when Sabitzer and Anselmino went for the same ball, and when Guirassy flashed at a shot, hitting it straight at Rönnow from outside the box.

Their next chance though would be superbly created by Guirassy - as he flicked the ball behind him instinctively to Anselmo – and finished. He lifted it delicately over Rönnow after taking the one-two, superbly. If Dortmund had only flickered, he had shimmered.

Baumgart reacted soon enough, looking to add some pace, bringing on Tim Skarke and Wooyeong Jeong for Trimmel and Král, soon joined by Oliver Burke and Derrick Köhn on the pitch in place of Ansah and Skov.

Burke was brought down in the box after his first charge, but the referee, Daniel Schlager, was having none of it. Indeed, replays showed Anselmino’s challenge fro the side to have been perfectly timed.

If the players were struggling to find a way through on the pitch, the fans in the stands, facing a long, late ride home with sore throats and another loss in Dortmund behind them, were brilliant as ever, never pausing, never letting up.

But their efforts were in vain as substitute, Felix Nmecha, rifled home a volley with ten minutes to play, getting a fine connection and seeing his volley spring back up off the ground as it flew through a packed penalty box.

Aljoscha Kemlein came on for Janik Haberer, himself making his first league appearance in seven months – cause for some cheer, at least – but by this point the game was done. Guirassy had made the difference, and Union would have to try again to get a first win here. The curse of the Westfalenstadion had held firm. 

"We actually got off to a good start and didn't make it easy for Dortmund to create chances at the beginning. Then, unfortunately, we lost some of our bite in the challenges. If you give the ball away too easily, BVB will simply play it well. We need to take that with us into the break, work on it and do better against Hoffenheim. I can't afford to make mistakes like I did in the first half,‘

"I'm particularly annoyed about the first goal, as I could have defended the situation better. We also had a very good chance to score in the first half, but then conceded a goal shortly before half-time. After the break, it was 0-2 and then it was difficult, but we weren't good enough either. We want to do better." 

"We had our chances, not only to equalise, but even to take the lead. Instead, we conceded a goal at a stage when it didn't necessarily have to happen; we simply have to be more stable in that situation. Then we came out of the break well, went for the equaliser, had some good chances, but then the second goal went in and after that the game was more or less decided. We have to learn to play our transitions more clearly and will continue to try to compete against such opponents with our mentality and intensity."