Borussia Dortmund produced a magnificent second-half comeback to see off a shell-shocked Bayer Leverkusen and go top of the Bundesliga table.
Goals: 1-0 Weiser (9′), 2-0 Tah (39′), 2-1 Bruun Larsen (65′), 2-2 Reus (69′), 3-2 Alcacer (85′), 4-2 Alcacer (90’+4)
Leverkusen made a dominant start and almost went ahead from an early Julian Brandt corner, when Dortmund defender Dan-Axel Zagadou came close to turning the ball into his own net. The deadlock was broken two minutes later as Lucas Alario’s cross from the left was met by onrushing right-back Mitchell Weiser, who rifled a low drive into the corner for his first goal in Leverkusen colours. BVB looked to hit back as Christian Pulisic stung the palms of Lukas Hradecky, while Marco Reus forced the Finland keeper into a smart save with a curling free-kick. The game was finely balanced until six minutes before half-time, when Jonathan Tah took advantage of some slack Dortmund defending to fire home after another Brandt corner.
Both sides traded blows in a fast and furious opening to the second half. Reus went close after a lovely touch from Jacob Bruun Larsen, while Brandt responded with a wicked effort that Roman Bürki did well to tip over the bar, and Kevin Volland hit the post as he looked to steer a long-distance effort into the corner. Bruun Larsen got one back for BVB midway through the half, stabbing in after Hradecky had parried an attempt from Reus, and the captain himself restored parity four minutes later after sensational work from substitute Jadon Sancho. The turnaround was complete when another substitute, Paco Alcacer, linked up brilliantly with Achraf Hakimi before turning the ball in off the post, and the Spaniard even netted a fourth for the visitors at the death as Leverkusen pushed for an equaliser. After their glittering second-half performance at the BayArena, Dortmund go top of the table and remain the only unbeaten side in the Bundesliga.
Match stats
- The last time Dortmund came from 2-0 down to win was away to VfB Stuttgart in March 2014.
- The last time they won after being two down at half-time was in May 1982, against Bochum (3-2).
- Alcacer has played a total of 50 minutes in the Bundesliga and scored three goals with just four shots.
- Reus grabbed his fourth goal of the season, putting him one behind Hertha Berlin’s Ondrej Duda in the Bundesliga scoring charts. The Dortmund captain has never had as many goals this early in the season.
- With four goals and three assists, Reus has had a hand in more goals (7) than any other player in the Bundesliga this season.
- Sancho set up his fourth and fifth goals of the campaign for Reus and Alcacer, putting him top of the Bundesliga assists chart.
- Weiser scored his first goal for Leverkusen since his summer move from Hertha, and in fact his first in 2018. The Germany U21 international scored five goals in 70 Bundesliga appearances for the Old Lady.
Line-ups
Leverkusen: Hradecky – Weiser (Jedvaj 70′), Tah, S. Bender, Wendell – Kohr, L. Bender (c) – Brandt (Paulinho 79′), Havertz, Volland – Alario (Bailey 70′)
Unused subs: Özcan, Dragovic, Kiese Thelin, Schreck
Absentees: Aranguiz (knee), Baumgartlinger (ligament), Bellarabi (suspended), Retsos (hand), Pohjanpalo (leg)
Coach: Heiko Herrlich
Dortmund: Bürki – Hakimi, Akanji, Diallo, Zagadou – Witsel, Delaney (Dahoud 46′) – Pulisic (Sancho 68′), Reus (c), Bruun Larsen – Philipp (Alcacer 63′)
Unused subs: Hitz, Guerreiro, Wolf, Weigl
Absentees: Götze (illness), Schmelzer (rested), Toljan (knock), Toprak (thigh)
Coach: Lucien Favre
Watch: Bruun Larsen not thinking about the table
As it happened
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