It had to be him. Waldemar Anton can’t have relished changing ends at half-time on Saturday. The performance of Borussia Dortmund’s big summer purchase had already captured the defender’s time so far in Nord-Rhine Westphalia in microcosm, as his blind backpass led to former teammate Deniz Undav going one-on-one with Gregor Kobel. Only a swift intervention from Emre Can prevented Anton’s error from leading to a Stuttgart goal.
When BVB moved from defending the Südtribune in the second period, it became even more uncomfortable for Anton. He was that bit physically closer to the away Stuttgart fans in the north-eastern corner of Signal Iduna Park and their jeers and boos became more audible. They had been furious when the Uzbek-born centre-back had left, not so long after Anton had extended his contract and spoken of his pride at becoming Stuttgart’s captain. If the move north had come with a hefty bump in pay and status for Anton, it has so far been far from a resounding success and in a game in which Stuttgart created little of substance, his next inadvertent intervention felt almost inevitable.
