Dortmund end Hoffenheim’s unbeaten run

Borussia Dortmund dominated the first-half, but they were unable to create anything of note in the final third until the 44th minute. The biggest talking point was Serhou Guirassy appealing for a penalty-kick when Vladimír Coufal made sure he would not freely shot at goal. Florian Badstübner rightly waved play to continue, though.

Karim Adeyemi was actively involved in most of Dortmund’s moves, and his slicing pass for Yan Couto finally made the difference. Julian Brandt scored his third goal of the season with a smart finish from the Brazilian’s cutback.

Knowing a draw would have been enough to leapfrog Leverkusen into a Champions League spot, Hoffenheim showed very little attacking intent before the suckerpunch. Tim Lemperle and Bazoumana Touré had lots of fun this season, but they had to settle for harmless long-range attempts in a listless performance by Christian Ilzer’s side.

The hosts didn’t have to wait that long for their first chance after the restart. Oliver Baumann had to make a save from Daniel Svensson’s close-range header less than five minutes into the second-half.

At the other end, Bernardo fluffed a great chance from Coufal’s excellent delivery. Just when Hoffenheim were starting to show signs of improvement, Nico Schlotterbeck sealed the win with a brilliant strike, though.

The center-back, whose last goal was also against Hoffenheim, beat his Germany teammate with a powerful strike. Hoffenheim then dealt another blow as Bernardo saw his fifth yellow card of the season, which will rule him out of next week’s home game against the in-form Hamburg side.

The next couple of chances fell to Waldemar Anton as the defender sought to join Schlotterbeck on the scoresheet. In what was yet another frustrating night for Guirassy, the Guinean rattled the bar just before his substitution in the 90th minute. On the positive note for the visitors, Adam Hložek finally made his first appearance of the season following a serious injury. However, they failed to score for only the second time this campaign.

After collecting 16 points from the possible 18 since mid-October, Hoffenheim finally lost a league game. Meanwhile, Dortmund are now unbeaten in their last six Bundesliga encounters.

Dortmund will have two more home games before the end of the year against Bodø/Glimt and Borussia Mönchengladbach, sandwiched by a trip to Freiburg. Hoffenheim will face Hamburg and Stuttgart before Bundesliga’s customary three-week break.