Borussia Dortmund claimed three vital points as they beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 thanks to goals from Dan-Axel Zagadou, Jadon Sancho, and Mario Götze.
Dortmund welcomed former coach Peter Bosz’s Leverkusen to Signal Iduna Park, looking to reopen a three-point gap at the top of the Bundesliga table. They had to do so without injured captain Marco Reus and were second-best in the early stages of the match, when Leverkusen bossed possession and could have scored at least twice. However, Dortmund came to life and took the lead on the half-hour mark. Leverkusen conceded a corner, which Sancho curled over the heads of the defenders and onto the foot of Zagadou for his first goal of the season. Bayer wasted little time in getting back on level terms; Kai Havertz played a lovely one-two with captain Kevin Volland, who placed a low drive into the bottom-left corner. But, anything Bayer could do, Dortmund could do better; within one minute, Abdou Diallo put a cross in from the left for Sancho to volley home and restore the hosts’ lead.
The second half began somewhat scrappily, with both sides aiming to move the ball quickly and keep it on the deck. With 60 minutes gone, Dortmund once again struck. Achraf Hakimi’s cross from the right took a deflection and landed at the feet of stand-in captain Götze, who immediately fired his shot low past keeper Lukas Hradecky. Dortmund striker Pablo Alcacer thought he had broken his goal drought just three minutes later, only to see it ruled out for offside. Bayer reduced the deficit to one goal from a free-kick which Julian Brandt delivered to a completely-unmarked Jonathan Tah, who headed the ball into the net to set up a pulsating close to the match. Bayer pressed and probed in search of an equaliser, but could not find a way through, giving Dortmund a vital win in their quest for the Bundesliga title.
