bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund slip to defeat against in-form Wolfsburg

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Micky van de Ven and Lukas Nmecha goals bookended an action-packed game as Wolfsburg dealt a blow to Borussia Dortmund's title hopes in a deserved 2-0 win.

Wolfsburg 2-0 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 1-0 van de Van 6’, 2-0 L. Nmecha 90'+1 (assist: Wimmer)

Wolfsburg flew out of the traps as Omar Marmoush drew a flying save from Koen Casteels. Two minutes later, the hosts were ahead. BVB failed to deal with a Maximilian Arnold corner, allowing defender Micky van de Ven to get the final touch from two yards. Dortmund mustered a response in the 20th minute when Donyell Malen forced the goalkeeper into a pair of quick-fire saves. Jonas Wind and Marmoush fired off target in furious passage of play, before Niklas Süle controlled a corner on the turn and pinged one just past the upright at the other end. The Germany international almost levelled on the stroke of half-time, but his low strike from a tight angle was beaten away by Casteels.

Niko Kovac's side were indebted to Casteels once more after the restart. The Belgian pushed a Raphael Guerreiro free-kick over the bar, before showing cat-like reactions to swat clear Youssoufa Moukoko's point-blank header from the ensuing corner. The Wolves bit back through Jonas Wind, who tested the reflexes of Gregor Kobel with a fierce shot from 10 yards. Felix Nmecha was first to the resultant corner, but couldn't beat the goalkeeper. Jakub Kaminski - whose follow-up to that earlier chance had been blocked - was then denied another clear sight of goal by Mats Hummels. Casteels thwarted a crisp Guerreiro strike, before substitutes Patrick Wimmer and Lukas Nmecha combined to seal the points in stoppage time and extend Wolfsburg's unbeaten run to seven matches.

Match stats

  • Wolfsburg have recorded three to-nil wins in a row.
  • Dortmund could be as many as six points behind leaders Bayern Munich come the end of the matchday.
  • The Wolves ran six kilometres more than Dortmund.
  • Van de Van scored his first Bundesliga goal.
  • Bellingham has won more duels than any other player in the Bundesliga this season (229).
  • Kovac recorded his fourth win in 10 games against Dortmund as a coach (D1, L5).

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Watch: Gregor Kobel - 'Casteels had a great game'

Teams

Wolfsburg: Casteels - Baku, Bornauw, Van de Ven, Otavio - F. Nmecha (Svanberg 88'), Arnold (c), Gerhardt – Marmoush (Wimmer 58'), Wind (L. Nmecha 75'), Kaminski (Roussillon 88')
Unused subs: Pervan, Fischer, Lacroix, Waldschmidt, Brekalo
Out: Franjic (calf), Guilavogui (muscular), Kruse (not considered), Paredes (calf)
Coach: Niko Kovac

Dortmund: Kobel - Süle (Hazard 71'), Hummels (c), Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro - Özcan, (Pasalaic 80'), Bellingham - Adeyemi (Reyna 61'), Brandt, Malen (Modeste 70') - Moukoko
Unused subs: Meyer, Can, Passlack, Coulibaly, Papadopoulos
Out: Bynoe-Gittens (shoulder), Dahoud (shoulder), Haller (testicular cancer), Meunier (broken cheekbone), Morey (knee), Reus (ankle), Rothe (knee)
Coach: Edin Terzic

Watch: Niko Kovac 'proud' of Wolfsburg display