An unusual afternoon at the Schwarzwald-Stadion as SC Freiburg battled on with 10 men against the might of Borussia Dortmund, to come away with only their second point of the Bundesliga season as the game finished 0-0 in the Black Forest.
A game entirely dominated in terms of possession by the visitors, Christian Streich's men had one or two chances of their own early on but were unable to convert and take advantage. Peter Bosz's team were on the wrong end of fouls and some physical challenges from the Freiburg's players.
Despite the dropped points, Dortmund are still the leaders after matchday three of the Bundesliga, meanwhile, Freiburg are in 15th in the standings after they got their second point of the season.
First half of missed chances for Dortmund
Both teams looked for a quick start to the game, Dortmund were on the front foot and in control in early parts of the game.
The first big chance fell to Freiburg after a perfect counter attack, a massive chance missed for Tim Kleindienst after six minutes of the game.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looked isolated up front, Maximilian Phillip was making a positive impact on his return to his former club, moving the ball with purpose, however, Ousmane Dembélé's absence was evident in the final third.
As the half progressed, Dortmund looked more and more dangerous when they got behind the Freiburg defence, Aubameyang crossed the ball after getting into the box and Mario Götze tried to volley but his effort was blocked.
Another time the duo combined later, Götze's excellent cross found the head of Aubameyang, but the Gabon international failed to find the back of the net from close range.
Marc Bartra had to be taken off midway through the first half because of a pulled muscle injury, which was the first of Bosz's injury concerns of the afternoon. The second came a bit later when Yoric Ravet was sent off for a very rash tackle on Marcel Schmelzer, VAR helping the referee in the making the call for the red card after he initially gave only a yellow to Ravet.
Nuri Şahin forced a few saves from Alexander Schwolow but was unable to help his side in taking the lead in the first half.
Freiburg held on for valuable point in second half
Dortmund's dominance continued in the second half, Streich's men were down to 10 and there was only one plan at the time, damage limitation, which they did exceedingly well despite the constant pressure on their defense.
Bosz tried to change the game for his team with changes, giving Andriy Yarmolenko his debut in the Bundesliga, hoping that the Ukranian could give his side something extra in the final third.
Streich's men held on deep in their own half, blocking every cross that came their way, Caglar Söyüncü was the man leading their defensive actions and did very well to ensure that none of Dortmund's threatening passes have any output.
Dortmund had almost every man in the Freiburg half, all their dominance throughout the game had rewarded them little so far, Łukasz Piszczek went close with a header from Sahin's cross.
Freiburg clearing every cross that enters their box, Dortmund being frustrated with every chance that they waste. Ten minutes from full-time, Aubameyang thought he had scored the winner, however the referee decided to blow on a foul earlier on Sokratis and the goal was disallowed.