Dortmund Strike, Bayern Hold Firm

The ball had barely stopped moving after Ikechukwu Okeke’s low drive found a post-side route into the net when Sadio Keita struck again. One minute separated the goals. RB Leipzig had no time to breathe, let alone answer. Borussia Dortmund left with a 2-0 win and second place in the Bundesliga.

DORTMUND’S DOUBLE BLOW

Okeke scored on 49 minutes, driving low and hard past the Leipzig defence and into the net near a post. On 50 minutes, Keita sent a high shot with his foot into the goal. The sudden double strike turned a tight contest into Dortmund’s afternoon, and lifted them above Leipzig in the table.

Đorđe Petrović was the game’s standout, but the larger prize was the climb. Dortmund finish the round second on 67 points, two ahead of Leipzig, who drop to third on 65. There is a gap of 14 points to leaders FC Bayern München. Dortmund have secured the runner-up spot; Bayern’s place at the top was never in doubt today.

BAYERN ANSWER AGAIN

FC Bayern München made sure of that with a 2-1 win over 1. FSV Mainz 05. Sil Vlietstra put Bayern ahead from the penalty spot on 53 minutes. Mirsad Duli levelled for Mainz on 69, striking from close range at mid height. Vlietstra settled it on 81, heading in from close range and past a post.

The forward was named the game’s standout. Bayern stay first on 81 points from 34 games, 14 clear of Dortmund. Mainz remain 12th. Bayern had already held a commanding grip on the title, and this was another firm hand on the job. The club’s left-wing injury news made earlier this month has not changed the result that matters: the leaders won again.

WOLFSBURG’S LAST WORD

VfL Wolfsburg’s 2-1 win at SpVgg Greuther Fürth was the round’s late sting. Eduardo Giddens put Wolfsburg ahead on 56 minutes, shooting low near a post. Alejandro Ocaña, on as a substitute, equalised for Fürth in stoppage time. Then Lourival struck from outside the box, sending the ball along the ground for a goal on 90+5.

Fürth’s resistance looked rewarded when Ocaña made it 1-1. He was the game’s standout, and his late goal moved Wolfsburg up to fifth on 61 points. Fürth stay 16th, in the relegation play-off place, with safety out of reach on this day’s evidence. They are seven points above 17th-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen, who lost 2-1 to Borussia Mönchengladbach and remain in the relegation zone. Bottom club DSC Arminia Bielefeld lost 3-0 at FC St. Pauli.

DRAWS, RED CARDS AND A LATE RESCUE

Fortuna Düsseldorf and Hamburger SV drew 1-1. In-Sung Han put HSV ahead on 35 minutes with a high shot through the middle; Juan Manuel Cobián levelled for Fortuna in first-half stoppage time. Han was sent off on 84 minutes, leaving his side to see out the draw. Fortuna stay fourth on 63 points, with HSV seventh.

At TSG Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt led through Guy Vahaba’s low, hard drive on 24 minutes. Marco Ecker rescued a 1-1 draw for Hoffenheim with a stoppage-time equaliser. Frankfurt are 10th; Hoffenheim 15th.

Hertha Berlin beat 1. FC Nürnberg 1-0 through Heru Noor’s high shot on 67 minutes. Hertha are sixth, Nürnberg 11th. In Freiburg, 1. FC Köln won 1-0, while Pablo Roldán was sent off on 66 minutes. A model professional whose long loan from Bayern has not brought him contentment, Roldán had already made clear he wanted a new challenge. His afternoon ended with a dismissal, and Freiburg ended with defeat.

Elsewhere, FC St. Pauli’s 3-0 win over Bielefeld brought Marco Niemeyer a towering display for the club he loves. But the table’s hard lines are clear: Bayern first, Dortmund second, Leipzig third; Fürth, Leverkusen and Bielefeld occupy the bottom three, with the latter two in the relegation zone. Germany’s round belonged to the teams that finished their work. Dortmund did it in a minute. Bayern did it once more. Wolfsburg waited until the last kick of consequence.