Brandt fires Dortmund to win over Werder Bremen and top of Bundesliga
Ole Werner will have had fond memories of his side’s last trip to the Westfalenstadion, in which his side produced a remarkable comeback to win having been 2-0 down in the 88th minute.
Having gone unbeaten since then at this venue, Dortmund are a different prospect to that matchup in August 2022, but the away side went about the opening stages the right way for a repeat.
A speculative effort from Donyell Malen notwithstanding, Bremen had a firm hold on the game, and Marvin Ducksch showed why he could fill the gap left by Niclas Fullkrug’s departure as he curled just over from distance.
The home side did begin to threaten as the first half reached its midpoint, and Julian Ryerson was denied a goal for a third consecutive Bundesliga outing as his low shot was diverted away by Michael Zetterer.
Set pieces came in abundance for Die Schwarzgelben, but their best play came on the counter. Marco Reus was offered a fantastic opportunity to open the scoring as he combined sensationally with Julian Brandt, but the former Dortmund captain feathered his effort just wide.
Standing in impeccably for Jiri Pavlenka, Zetterer ended the opening period with another great save, this time at the near post off a rasping Malen strike.
No Bundesliga match involving Dortmund has finished goalless since October 2019 – a run of 134 matches – and the five-time Bundesliga champions were unwilling to allow that run to come to an end here.
Emre Can provided the moment of inspiration his side required, slicing open the Bremen defence to find Brandt, who expertly chipped over Zetterer to open the scoring on his landmark appearance.
Edin Terzic instructed his team to batten down the hatches, but there was a late chance for former Dortmund youngster Justin Njinmah, who came off the bench to test Gregor Kobel.
Lightning doesn’t generally strike twice, and there was to be no heroic comeback this time for the boys in green and white, as they flopped to a sixth defeat in their opening eight matches.
Fans in the Ruhr have become accustomed to seeing Dortmund grind out narrow wins this campaign, but they will have no complaints that their side move on top of the pile in the Bundesliga, albeit ahead of the rest of matchday eight’s fixtures.
