Bundesliga

2023-01-30T06:45:00Z

Bellingham leads by example in Leverkusen win

Jude Bellingham captained Borussia Dortmund to a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen that closes the gap on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich to three points.

Bayer Leverkusen 0-2 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 0-1 Adeyemi 33' (assist: Brandt), 0-2 Tapsoba (o.g. 53')

After Bayern dropped points for the third successive game this year, Edin Terzic named testicular cancer survivor Sebastien Haller in his starting line-up for the first time, in a bid to keep Dortmund in touch at the top. There was a reason Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen went into the contest on a five-match winning run, though, and BVB needed Gregor Kobel to be alert to an early warning shot from Nadiem Amiri. The Dortmund No.1 pulled off an even better save to thwart Moussa Diaby's low drive, before the visitors landed a sucker-punch with their first meaningful attack. Haller dummied Julian Brandt's right-wing cross, allowing Karim Adeyemi to swipe home with aplomb from inside the area.

It took another fine Kobel save to prevent Diaby firing Leverkusen level early in the second half. Amine Adli shaped to put away the loose ball, only for Julian Ryerson to make a vital clearance in front of goal. As in the first 45, Dortmund's response was emphatic. Bellingham led a blistering counter and was all poised to finish off the move, when Bayer defender Edmond Tapsoba unwittingly converted Marius Wolf's right-wing cross. Chances flowed, with Tapsoba clearing off the line from Brandt and Bellingham glancing wide. Kobel repelled Diaby and Kerim Demirbay in an entertaining finale as BVB saw out a third straight win to go fourth in the table, leaving Leverkusen down in ninth.

Match stats

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Watch: Bellingham: "It was a pleasure to play in"

Teams

Leverkusen: Hradecky (c) - Frimpong, Tapsoba, Tah (Bakker 63'), Hincapie - Palacios (Bellarabi 70'), Andrich - Diaby, Wirtz (Hlozek 70'), Amiri (Demirbay 80') - Adli (Azmoun 80')
Unused subs: Lomb, Kossounou, Sinkgraven, Fosu-Mensah
Out: Aranguiz (calf), Schick (groin)
Coach: Xabi Alonso

Dortmund: Kobel - Wolf (Hummels 85'), Süle, Schlotterbeck, Ryerson - Can, Özcan, Bellingham (c) - Adeyemi (Bynoe-Gittens 72'), Haller (Modeste 61'), Brandt (Reus 85')
Unused subs: Meyer, Reyna, Guerreiro, Moukoko, Malen
Out: Kamara (knee), Meunier (muscular), Morey (match fitness)
Coach: Edin Terzic

Watch: Alonso: "Could have had one goal"

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