Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways in the Bundesliga with a 2-1 victory over 1. FC Koln, making it four consecutive wins against Die Geissbocke.
Dortmund arrived at the RheinEnergieStadion on the back of back-to-back defeats that had knocked them out of the Champions League and seriously dented their title ambitions. They were almost made to pay for that poor form immediately, as Ramy Bensebaini had to block two quick Isak Johannesson shots and Gregor Kobel was called upon to tip a Youssoupha Niang header over the bar inside the opening five minutes.
The hosts were punished for a moment of sloppiness shortly after, however. Johannesson’s loose pass gave Dortmund the chance to break forward, and although Tom Krauss deflected Maximilian Beier’s effort behind for a corner, Koln failed to deal with the set piece and Serhou Guirassy poked the ball home from close range.
Koln went in search of an immediate reply, with Niang and Said El Mala both firing into the side-netting. Dortmund looked energised by the opener and Beier had another attempt blocked by Rav van den Berg as the game continued at a lively pace.
A Kristoffer Lund header caused a brief scare at the other end, and Marvin Schwabe kept out a Guirassy effort to keep Koln in the contest. However, the hosts suffered a further blow before half-time when a yellow card shown to Jahmai Simpson-Pusey for a challenge from behind on Beier was upgraded to a red following a VAR review.
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