Borussia Dortmund deal huge blow to Bayern Munich's fading title hopes in Der Klassiker
Bayern Munich's long-standing command of the Bundesliga appears to be entering its final throes after a rare home loss against Der Klassiker rivals Borussia Dortmund - which came courtesy of goals from Karim Adeyemi and Julian Ryerson - left the record champions 13 points behind Bayer Leverkusen with seven games to play.
Bayern Munich 0-2 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 0-1 Adeyemi 10' (assist: Brandt), 0-2 Ryerson 83' (assist: Haller)
A meeting between two Bundesliga giants where neither sat on top of the Bundesliga standings was a rarity, yet that took nothing away from the immensity of the occasion. A pulsating Allianz Arena expected prior to the 110th meeting between these great rivals, however, those fans kitted out in red were left stunned when Dortmund hit the front on ten minutes. Dortmund's assist-specialist Julian Brandt spotted the run of Adeyemi and after the 22-year-old sped away, his angled shot had too much power for stand-in goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, who could only palm the ball on its way into the corner. Having seen division leaders Leverkusen extend their league lead earlier in the day, Bayern's urgency rose. Joshua Kimmich put one on a plate for Harry Kane, but the Bundesliga's top scorer glanced uncharacteristically wide when unmarked. Playing in his first Klassiker, Eric Dier was then prevented from scoring on the line by Mats Hummels - the man featuring for a record-breaking 29th time in this fixture.
After losing on their previous nine visits to face Bayern, BVB were in determined mood as they looked to break that unwanted sequence. Edin Terzic's side could, and probably should have doubled their lead after the restart when Felix Nmecha connected from close range with Ryerson's cut-back. Ulreich's quick reactions kept Bayern in the game, while the custodian was there again to deny Hummels shortly afterwards. Looking to stem the visiting flow, Thomas Tuchel made a triple change but it was Dortmund who continued to create. Bursting clear on a counter, Ian Maatsen made it all the way into the Bayern box before dragging a shot wide of the far post. At the other end, Kane's frustrations continued with another header off target while Alexander Meyer scooped substitute Kingsley Coman's shot over as the hosts pushed for an equaliser. Their priority late in the season a Champions League finish, Dortmund took a big step in the direction of achieving that top-four goal when they doubled their lead late on. After a patient build-up, the returning Sébastien Haller laid off to Ryerson, who pinged a shot into the corner from the right. When Kane subsequently had a goal chalked off for offside, the visitors' night was complete.
Watch: Nico Schlotterbeck hails Dortmund's defensive effort
Match stats
- Dortmund won a Bundesliga game in Munich for the first time since 12 April 2014.
- Ryerson scored his fourth Bundesliga goal of the season, which is more than any other top-flight defender.
- Adeyemi has now scored three times in his last four Bundesliga games having failed to find the net prior to that run in the top-flight this season.
- Brandt is the joint-top Bundesliga assist provider (along with Leroy Sané and Álejandro Grimaldo) with 11 assists.
- Hummels made his 29th Klassiker appearance in the Bundesliga, which is a new record. He’s so far played 23 times for Borussia and six for Bayern.
- Tuchel took charge of his 50th competitive match in charge of Bayern. His debut was a 4-2 Klassiker win at home against his former club.
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Watch: Thomas Müller losing hope in title race
Teams
Bayern: Ulreich - Kimmich, De Ligt, Dier, Davies (Choupo-Moting 84') - Laimer (Mazraoui 73'), Goretzka - Sané (Coman 63'), Müller (c) (Tel 63'), Musiala (Gnabry 63') - Kane
Unused subs: Peretz, Upamecano, Kim, Zaragoza
Out: Boey (muscular), Buchmann (thigh), Guerreiro (muscular), Neuer (adductor), Pavlović (tonsilitis), Sarr (knee)
Coach: Thomas Tuchel
Dortmund: Meyer - Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Maatsen - Nmecha (Özcan 67'), Can (c) - Sancho (Bynoe-Gittens 84'), Brandt (Reus 67'), Adeyemi (Wolf 84') - Füllkrug (Haller 74')
Unused subs: Lotka, Duranville, Moukoko, Sülm
Out: Bamba (muscular), Bensebaini (knee), Kobel (ill), Malen (thigh), Sabitzer (suspended)
Coach: Edin Terzić
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