Dortmund held by Augsburg as protesting fans stay away

Borussia Dortmund 1 - 1 Augsburg
(Reus 16' - Danso 73')

A strange night in Dortmund ended in stalemate after Kevin Danso rescued a point for Augsburg to cancel out Marco Reus' opener.

With only 54,300 officially in attendance due to BVB fans' protests against the imposition of Monday night games, the normally raucous Signal Iduna Park was somewhat flat. Those that did turn up did turn up the volume a little early on, and Reus was at the heart of the excitement.

The Germany wide man won a challenge in his own half and fed Mario Götze who, in turn, found Andre Schürrle. The cross was turned away by an Augsburg defender but Reus had continued his run and turned home from close range.

Dortmund took control for the rest of the first half but couldn't find a second. The tide turned somewhat when the teams came back out, with Augsburg's Michael Gregoritsch troubling the hosts' backline.

But it was a set piece that proved Dortmund's undoing. Kevin Danso could scarcely believe his luck when he rose unchallenged to meet a corner eight yards out in the center of the goal. He looked the first gift horse in the mouth, heading straight at Roman Bürki, but wasn't so charitable when the Swiss keeper spilled his effort.

Dortmund looked the more likely to grab an equalizer but didn't trouble Marwin Hitz too much and this is one that will be remembered more for those who didn't turn up than those who did.

As it happened  

FULL TIME - The referee blows and this one is done.

90 +1 - Augsburg are defending deep and defending well. Dortmund gettin increasingly frusrated. There'll be three extra minutes.

89' - Götze whips a cross/shot across the box but there's nobody there.

85' - Dortmund are pressing hard for a winner. First there are half-hearted appeals for a penalty after Sokratis goes to ground then Dahoud clips one just over with about 15 players in the Augsburg box.

82' - Despite an eye-catching new blonde section of his dreadlocked mop, Batshuayi has barely been in the game. He finally gets a decent chance, controlling with his back to goal in the box before turning and pulling the trigger. But he doens't get his head over it and the balls flies harmlessly over.

80' - Dahoud catches an Augsburg man after going over the top of the ball. It was not a great tackle but it seems to have enraged Peter Stöger. The Dortmund coach is being held back from going for the Augsburg bench by the fourth official.

77' - Sokratis goes down in the box but there's not much there and Reus is removed for Pulisic. 

75' - Dahoud with a much better effort this time, that forces Hitz to push round the post. Nothing comes from the corner.

73' - GOAL! They'd been warned. Danso is totally free just outside the six yard box from a corner. He should bury it, heads straight at Bürki and then taps in when the keeper can only spoon it back in to his path. Augsburg are level.

68 - Only 54,300 in tonight, out of a capacity of 81,000+  but they almost saw a couple more goals. First Schürrle goes close for Dortmund then Augsburg trouble the BVB backline through Caiuby.

67' - Dahoud gets involved for the first time, pouncing on a loose ball before dragging a shot well wide. He's yet to score for Dortmund, which is not surprising given that effort.

65' - Manuel Baum's having a good old clap on the sidelines. But that may just be to keep his hands warm. It's -6 in Dortmund tonight. 

62' - It's getting a little scrappy now, Cauiby the latest to commit a foul. BVB replace Castro with Dahoud.

58' - Schmid goes close again, pulling a shot wide after a decent move. Augsburg are growing in to this second half, Dortmund need to be careful here.

56' - Augsburg go close. Max puts in a lovely left wing cross, as he's been doing all season, Schmid gets a glance on it but it flies wide of the far post. Not easy but presentable. Framberger, who got a knock in the first half is replaced by Heller.

53 - Weigl is brought down by a bit of a late one but Hinteregger gets away with it. No booking.

51' - Augsburg try to go a little longer but Toprak and Sokratis are up to it. 

48' - Reus looking dangerous again early, he wins the ball on the left and finds Götze, who lifts in to the box but overcooks it.

46' - The second half has begun.

HALF TIME - Marco Reus' early goal, that came after an excellent counter-attack, separates the sides at the break. Since the goal, the hosts have largely been in control, though they haven't created a great deal. Augsburg have offered a sporadic threat and the terraces are noticably lacking in numbers. 

44' - Schmid hits it and Bürki needs to make a save but it didn't have enough power on to really trouble him. Dortmund eventually clear the resulting corner.

42' - Augsburg finally make their way forward and Gregoritsch wins a free kick in a great position.

40' - Framberger is back on but it's one way traffic at the minute. Augsburg can't get out of their own half. That being said, Dortmund haven't created too many clear cut chances yet.

38' - Augsburg's Framberger is getting some treatment after he fell awkwardly while attempting to block a Reus shot. 

36' - Our man in Dortmund reports on some unusual goings on while, on the pitch, Schmelzer deals with a dangerous cross by cooly heading back to the keeper.

34' - Augsburg barely getting a kick at the moment. 

31' - Some nice hold up play from Batshuayi, who has been quiet so far, gets Dortmund going forward again. Weigl takes over and finds Reus but his cross isn't up to scratch.

26' - Toprak is almost caught dawdling on the ball there but just gets a shout in time. The hosts are, unsurprisingly, looking good going forward but a little fragile. I feel like that might have been said before about Dortmund.

21' - That goal has settled Dortmund down after a somewhat shaky start. They're playing some nice stuf now, winning a corner after a sweeping move. Nothing comes of it.

16' - GOAL! Marco Reus finishes a move he started himself. It all came from an Augsburg attack. Reus won the battle for the clearance and fed Götze who drove on before finding Schürrle on the right. The winger drove low towards Batshuayi but an Augsburg defender managed to get a foot on it. But he could only direct it in to the path of Reus. Lovely counter-attacking goal, even if the ending wasn't as pretty as the build up.

14' - The first corner of the match goes to Augsburg. Max goes flat and low to Gregoritsch but he's well beyond the front post and can only head it in to the stands. 

11' - Götze tries to square to Batshuayi in the box but the ball escapes the Belgian.

10' - Dortmund have been a little sloppy in possession so far and Toprak is the latest culprit. Max has a bit of space dpown Augsburg's left but his cross is unusually poor.

7' - The visitors again try to get down Dortmund's right flank, this time with more success. Gregoritsch gets a shot off but the ball is a little behind him and he can't get much power on it. Bürki gathers.

4' - Augsburg have had most of the ball in the early stages, they're probing down Dortmund's left with little joy.

1' - We're off. There definitely aren't 81,000 in but the noise is decent enough.

20:26 - The stadium announcer just told the crowd that Dortmund respect those who stayed away, adding that the club plan to bring the Monday night issue when the next TV deal is discusse.

20:20 - Augsburg coach Manuel Baum is being interviewed on the pitch and it must be said the stands are sparsely populated. Still 10 minutes to go, but you'd expect more than that on a normal matchday.

20:10 - Our reporter Matt Ford is in position in freezing Dortmund, where the banners are up but the fans look to be staying away.

20:00 - If this match was on Saturday, all the talk would be about whether Dortmund could put some daylight between them and the rest of the European challengers but, as it is, all eyes will be on the stands. That's because the home fans are expected to boycott this one en masse.

The protests concern the scheduling of games on Monday nights by the DFL, which fan groups believe is another attempt to swell the coffers. The DFL claim it's to give Europa League teams a little more rest. My colleague Matt Ford wrote a useful backgrounder on this. Take a read here before kick off.

One other piece of Dortmund business before we get on to the game. Atalanta face charges over the accusations of racism against Michy Batshuayi.

Back to the football for a second, and the teams are out.