Erling Haaland and Marco Reus came off the bench to combine for the only goal of the game as Borussia Dortmund beat Hoffenheim for the first time in six meetings.

Hoffenheim 0-1 Borussia Dortmund
Goal: 0-1 Reus (76')

Despite Hoffenheim missing top scorer Andrej Kramaric and Haaland starting on the bench for Dortmund, both sides came flying out of the blocks. Mijat Gacinovic beat Marwin Hitz to Robert Skov’s teasing cross but couldn’t get his sliding effort on target, while Jadon Sancho’s attempted lob of Oliver Baumann didn’t quite come off. A head injury forced Lukasz Piszczek off early on, and Lucien Favre was forced to reshuffle by bringing on Thomas Delaney. Dortmund, however, controlled possession at the PreZero Arena against a Hoffenheim side happy to work on the counter-attack. BVB’s attack, made up of Sancho, Julian Brandt and Gio Reyna, finally began to click at the end of the first half: the American had a shot cleared off the line by Skov before Thomas Meunier glanced a header off the crossbar from a Reyna corner. Brandt would have had a simple finish to make had he controlled Sancho’s powerful pass just before the break, but neither side was able to break the deadlock through the first half.

Dortmund’s control of the ball continued into the second half, but chances dried up for both sides with defences winning the day. Reus and Haaland came on for BVB just after the hour mark, and the substitutes combined to make the desired impact for Favre’s side. With less than 15 minutes to play, Reyna’s flick on from a long ball sent Haaland in on goal and with Baumann closing down, the Norwegian passed across goal for Reus to slot home calmly. The game opened up after that opener and Haaland came within inches of scoring one himself after a lovely pass from Raphael Guerreiro, before he hit the outside of Baumann’s right post just moments after Christoph Baumgartner had fluffed a chance at the other end. England U21 international Ryan Sessegnon came on for his Hoffenheim debut late on but Dortmund remained on top, and could have added to their total before the full-time whistle.

Match stats

• Reus scored his first goal off the bench in the Bundesliga since March 2014.
• Dortmund recorded their first win over Hoffenheim in six league matches.
• Dortmund have not drawn any of their last 21 matches in all competitions, dating back to December 2019 and a 3-3 draw with RB Leipzig.
• In 2019/20, Hoffenheim beat Dortmund home and away in a single season for the first time (2-1 and 4-0).
• Dortmund have restricted the opposition to a league-low 23 shots on their goal so far this term.
• Haaland has been involved in six of Dortmund's eight Bundesliga goals so far this season, with four goals and two assists.

Watch: Reus: “A very intense game”

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Line-ups

Hoffenheim: Baumann (c) - Akpoguma, Vogt, Posch (Grillitsch 79') - Rudy, Geiger, Samassekou, Skov (Sessegnon 79') – Bebou (Dabbur 79'), Belfodil (Baumgartner 60'), Gacinovic (Bruun Larsen 60')
Unused subs: Pentke, Brenet, Bogarde, Klauss
Out: Adams (not included), Bicakcic (knee), Hübner (ankle), Kaderabek (not included), Kramaric (not included), Stafylidis (shoulder)
Coach: Sebastian Hoeneß

Dortmund: Hitz – Piszczek (Delaney 21'), Hummels (c), Can – Meunier (Guerreiro 75'), Dahoud (Bellingham 75'), Witsel, Passlack – Sancho (Reus 64'), Brandt (Haaland 64'), Reyna
Unused subs: Bürki, Morey, Reinier, Knauff
Out: Akanji (not included), Hazard (muscular), Schmelzer (knee), Schulz (calf), Zagadou (knee)
Coach: Lucien Favre

About the clubs

TSG Hoffenheim

PreZero Arena

Borussia Dortmund

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