Bundesliga Borussia Dortmund vs Bayer Leverkusen
Borussia Dortmund cruised past host Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 on Sunday for its third win in three league matches since the Bundesliga resumed after the winter break, climbing to within three points of the top spot.
Goals from Karim Adeyemi and a second half own goal from Edmond Tapsoba gave Dortmund a comfortable victory and snapped Leverkusen’s five-game winning run in the Bundesliga, dropping them to ninth place.
“Today it was not only an important win but also a deserved one and this is something we liked. We still have a long way to go but this was a good step now,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic, whose team play Chelsea on Feb. 15 in the Champions League last 16.
“We delivered a solid and strong performance. But don’t make us out to be better than we really are or worse than we are.
“This win won’t mean much if we don’t keep at it and keep delivering the same performances,” Terzic said. “We are satisfied with the nine points (from three matches this year).”
Germany international Adeyemi rifled in his first Bundesliga goal after a good passing move from Dortmund in the 33rd minute with Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby having earlier forced a superb save from Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel.
The keeper had to come to the rescue again three minutes after the restart, stopping both Diaby and Amine Adli in Leverkusen’s double chance to level.
The visitors then doubled their lead in the 53rd when defender Tapsoba turned a Marius Wolf cutback into his own goal.
The Burkina Faso central defender had an evening to forget after almost scoring a second own goal in the 72nd.
He attempted to clear yet another cutback, this time from Julian Brandt, but instead stabbed it towards goal before Jeremie Frimpong came to the rescue and cleared on the line.
Dortmund’s third straight victory moved them up to fourth place on 34 points, three off leaders Bayern Munich and one behind third-placed RB Leipzig. Leverkusen are on 24 in ninth place.
Bundesliga Borussia Dortmund vs Bayer Leverkusen
In 28 head-to-head encounters between the two sides, Borussia Dortmund have won 15 games, lost seven and drawn six.
French forward Moussa Diaby has managed nine goal contributions in 17 starts for Bayer Leverkusen in the league.
In nine league starts, young Czech attacker Adam Hlozek has managed five goal contributions for Bayer Leverkusen.
Striker Youssoufa Moukoko has managed nine goal contributions in 10 league starts for Borussia Dortmund.
In three league starts so far, American attacker Giovanni Reyna has four goals for Borussia Dortmund.
Bayer Leverkusen are currently eighth in the league, and have won their last five league games. Manager Xabi Alonso deserves credit for the job he has done so far with the Bundesliga club, but will hope that the likes of Moussa Diaby and Jeremie Frimpong do not gravitate towards the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United, clubs who have been linked with their services.
There is also hope that young talent Florian Wirtz, regarded as one of the best talents in German football right now, is able to recover from his injury issues quickly. Wirtz suffered a serious injury last year, as a result of which he missed out on the World Cup as well. The 19-year-old is expected to become an integral part of the national team setup in the future.
