Borussia Dortmund closed the gap on league leaders Bayern Munich thanks to goals from Raphael Guerreiro and Achraf Hakimi helped sink a lacklustre 10-man Wolfsburg in a 2-0 victory at the Volkswagen Arena.
Guerreiro broke the deadlock for the visitors after the half hour thanks to some exquisite play allowing Thorgan Hazard to apply a low-driven cross into danger for the Portuguese to fire home.
After the interval Wolfsburg started to get a foot-hold in the game, but the introduction of Jaden Sancho in second-half helped turn the tide back in Dortmund’s favour as the English international laid the ball off for Arch Hakimi to strike their second and put the result to bed.
Three points and the return of Sancho to the fold – who played an amazing part in this result – makes for great reading for the yellow and black army as they prepare for their mouth-watering clash with Bayern Munich on Tuesday evening (BT Sport @ 5pm).
May not have been the most entertaining match for the neutral, but this was a testing and cagey affair for the title challengers. This was very simply a snatch and grab result for Dortmund against Wolfsburg, and a very professional display for good measure.
Both sides were going at it with hammer and tongs to break the deadlock as Wolfsburg – who have the third-best defensive record in the Bundesliga – came up against a Dortmund team who kept five clean sheets in their seven matches.
So no surprise to see a share of the spoils in the early stages as they cancelled out each other’s threats on a frequent basis in the first-half at the Volkswagen Arena.
Dortmund were aiming to close the gap to a point on the league leaders Bayern Munich with victory here, and it was the yellow and black army who found the first opening through Hazard with his chance curling wide of the far post after cutting-in from the right flank.
The quality in Wolfsburg’s attacking methods were coming down the right flank with Kevin Mbabu delivering some exquisite crosses into danger but with no end product to trouble the visitors.
And they were punished for their lack of end product as Guerreiro broke the deadlock for the visitors with his eighth of the season. The Portuguese capitalised on a beautiful exchange between his teammates Hakimi and Hazard to find space and time in the penalty area to slot home.
Wolfsburg failed to really create any clear-cut chances to level matters, and they should have been put to bed when Hazard found himself unmarked on the edge of the penalty area but inevitably scuffed his lines to drag his shot wide of the target.
A change of personnel was imperative after the interval, and that was evident in the opening exchanges of the second-half when Dortmund’s backline were caught napping allowing Renato Steffen to break in on goal only to see him drag his shot wide of the far post.
Wolfsburg continued to threaten, and again it was Steffen who caused problems as he caught a delicious first-time volley testing the gloves of Roman Burki for the first time in the match.
Change in Dortmund’s approach was looming in the mind for Lucien Favre, and with Erling Haaland kept comfortably at bay by the hosts it was only a matter of time until Sancho came on for Julian Brandt to help turn the tide.
And the substitution certainly paid dividend as Sancho’s blistering run into the penalty area allowed him to simply lay the ball off to the on-coming Hakimi who rifled his shot into the far corner to double the visitors lead.
Further bad news followed for the hosts, however, after VAR spotted Felix Klaus’s bruising challenge on Manuel Akanji’s calf that resulted in a straight red card leaving the a lacklustre Wolfsburg down to ten men.
Final whistle soon followed and too the relief of the home fans I’m sure they would like to brush this result from memory, but the visitors it was a well-drilled performance ahead of their top-of-the-table clash with Bayern Munich.
RK Football Talk 