Borussia Dortmund produced a magnificent second-half comeback to see off a shell-shocked Bayer Leverkusen and go top of the Bundesliga table.
Leverkusen made a dominant start and almost went ahead from an early Julian Brandt corner, when Dortmund defender Dan-Axel Zagadou came close to turning the ball into his own net. The deadlock was broken two minutes later as Lucas Alario’s cross from the left was met by onrushing right-back Mitchell Weiser, who rifled a low drive into the corner for his first goal in Leverkusen colours. BVB looked to hit back as Christian Pulisic stung the palms of Lukas Hradecky, while Marco Reus forced the Finland keeper into a smart save with a curling free-kick. The game was finely balanced until six minutes before half-time, when Jonathan Tah took advantage of some slack Dortmund defending to fire home after another Brandt corner.
Both sides traded blows in a fast and furious opening to the second half. Reus went close after a lovely touch from Jacob Bruun Larsen, while Brandt responded with a wicked effort that Roman Bürki did well to tip over the bar, and Kevin Volland hit the post as he looked to steer a long-distance effort into the corner. Bruun Larsen got one back for BVB midway through the half, stabbing in after Hradecky had parried an attempt from Reus, and the captain himself restored parity four minutes later after sensational work from substitute Jadon Sancho. The turnaround was complete when another substitute, Paco Alcacer, linked up brilliantly with Achraf Hakimi before turning the ball in off the post, and the Spaniard even netted a fourth for the visitors at the death as Leverkusen pushed for an equaliser. After their glittering second-half performance at the BayArena, Dortmund go top of the table and remain the only unbeaten side in the Bundesliga.
