Kovac frustrated by defeat on Dortmund debut
Niko Kovac praised Borussia Dortmund after it "gave everything" but was left disappointed after his debut ended in defeat at Stuttgart.
Dortmund fell to a 2-1 home away defeat, losing more ground on the Bundesliga's top four as it now sits in 11th, six points behind its opponent.
A Waldemar Anton own goal and a Jeff Chabot header gave Stuttgart a 2-0 lead, and although Julian Brandt cut the deficit, the hosts could not find an equaliser before Julia Ryerson's late sending-off for a second booking.
Dortmund is now winless in its past five home games in the Bundesliga, marking its worst such run on home soil since autumn 2007 under Bert van Marwijk.
But the Black and Yellow were dominant, having 16 shots, five of which were on target, but Stuttgart was more clinical, netting with both its shots on target.
Overall, though, Kovac was happy with what he saw from his team, with the result the only let-down.
"The boys really gave everything, 100 per cent right up to the last minute," Kovac said. "The same goes for the substitutes.
"The result was the only thing I didn't like. The rest was completely fine.
"We shouldn't have come away on the losing side. The team did a lot of things well, both on and off the ball. But we didn't always make the right decisions in the opposition penalty area and stopped ourselves from reaping the rewards.
"Because before the goal that made it 1-0, we actually had a crystal-clear opportunity to score when Karim [Adeyemi] went through.
"For the goal that made it 2-0, I would like to know whether this is a new phase of play or not. Two people came from a passively offside position. I know we have a lot of work to do."
