Chaotic conditions with the video evidence and a disgraceful draw have spoiled the lightning debut of Niclas Füllkrug for Borussia Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund squandered a two-goal lead against rebellious promoted side 1. FC Heidenheim in curious circumstances and had to settle for a sensational 2-2 (2-0) draw on Friday evening. The start of the season is in the sand.

Wild scenes took place in the final phase. Referee Tobias Reichel apparently withdrew a penalty kick that had originally been awarded to Dortmund at 2-1, but then went out to the screen – and pointed to the spot again. Tim Kleindienst (83rd) scored the goal for Heidenheim’s first Bundesliga point.

The national striker Füllkrug, who only surprisingly switched from Werder Bremen to BVB on Thursday, was greeted with much applause, but sat on the bench until the 78th minute: The place in Dortmund’s centre of attack belongs to Sebastien Haller until further notice. However, that could change quickly. On Friday, the Frenchman was unfortunate and also caused the penalty for the equaliser.

Heidenheim initially tried in vain to build a fortress in their own penalty area, Julian Brandt cracked the defence already in the seventh minute. After Emre Can’s 2:0 (15th, hand penalty), a 75-minute exhibition match seemed to begin against an opponent who tried hard but had no chance at this level. But FCH fought back as hard as they could, scored through Eren Dinkci (61st) and fought on doggedly: with success.

At the start, BVB had positioned their defence far forward, as expected, and Heidenheim still lacked breathing space. Brandt took the first big chance from a turn with a shot against the underside of the crossbar. Can had previously received the ball at the elbow, which referee Reichel deemed not worthy of a penalty. A few minutes later, however, he penalised a handball by former BVB junior player Lennard Maloney after viewing the TV pictures.

The duel seemed to be decided, Heidenheim came under pressure far too rarely into a calm passing game. Marcel Sabitzer (19th/25th) and the strong Donyell Malen (28th), who rotated a lot and ran away from Christoph Theuerkauf on the right side again and again, could have scored more goals early on.

Heidenheim played their few opportunities to attack from good positions weakly for a long time. Coach Frank Schmidt therefore brought on Marvin Pieringer as a second striker in the second half alongside Tim Kleindienst, who missed a decent chance shortly afterwards (49th). Patrick Mainka’s possible goal (51) was disallowed after a lengthy video review due to an alleged handball by Pieringer. Nevertheless, Heidenheim showed how vulnerable the now far less dominant BVB is even against inferior opponents.

At the front, Dortmund missed their best chances in a row around Dinkci’s goal. Donyell Malen, Ramy Bensebaini and Haller were particularly outstanding. Heidenheim thus stayed in the game, took full risk from the 70th minute onwards – a little later Haller committed his momentous foul in the penalty area.