Honours even in Dortmund-Leipzig thriller

Borussia Dortmund 3-3 RB Leipzig
Goals: 1-0 Weigl (23’), 2-0 Brandt (34’), 2-1 Werner (47’), 2-2 Werner (53'), 3-2 Sancho (55‘), 3-3 Schick (78‘)

While both sides seemingly cancelled each other out in open play, Dortmund began to gain the upper hand from set-pieces as Mats Hummels dominated the penalty area and won three towering headers to fire early warning shots. Sancho was then denied one-on-one by Peter Gulacsi, but the BVB disappointment didn’t last long as the parry found its way to Julian Weigl on the corner of the box via Raphael Guerreiro. The shot deceived Gulacsi as it bounced in front of him and off his leg into the roof of the net. Yussuf Poulsen registered Leipzig’s first shot of the game with half an hour gone before Julian Brandt netted one of the goals of the season, collecting a Sancho pass inside the penalty area, spinning Dayot Upamecano and tucking it beyond Gulacsi with his first touch to double the lead with his first Bundesliga goal since the opening weekend. The visitors suddenly sparked into life in injury time, but Roman Bürki twice denied headers from Poulsen and Werner.

Bürki quickly undid that good work in the second half as he came rushing out of his goal and tried to head the ball clear, but only into the path of Werner who could tuck it into an empty goal. Marcel Halstenberg then had the ball in the back of the Dortmund net again, but had started his run too early and the linesman’s flag was raised. A second BVB mistake in quick succession wiped out their lead in the pouring rain when Brandt’s pass back was intercepted by Werner, who rounded Bürki for his 18th of the season, moving level with Robert Lewandowski at the top of the standings before Bayern Munich’s game on Wednesday. Borussia overcame the onslaught to strike back and retake the lead when Marco Reus pulled the ball back to Sancho, who dummied before drilling his shot home to continue his own remarkable scoring run. Yet the drama wasn’t over yet as substitute Patrik Schick turned home a rebound for his third Bundesliga after Nordi Mukiele’s shot had been saved to keep Leipzig four points clear of their title rivals with a game to go before the halfway point in the season.

• Weigl’s goal was just his third in 115 Bundesliga appearances. It was his first since September 2018.
• Weigl is BVB’s 11th different goalscorer this Bundesliga campaign. Only Leipzig have had more with 13, while Bayern also have 11.
• Dortmund extended their club record of scoring in each of their last 33 Bundesliga home games. It is also the league’s longest ongoing run.
• Leipzig's 18-goal top scorer Werner had faced Dortmund nine times before this game without finding the back of the net, but has now scored in each of his last seven league games.
• Sancho also kept up his run of scoring to make it seven competitive matches in a row. He’s now the youngest player in Bundesliga history with 22 goals, aged 19 years and 267 days, reaching the mark two days earlier than Horst Köppel in 1968.
• Julian Nagelsmann has still never won in Dortmund as a Bundesliga coach (D2, L3).

Watch: Werner: "I had a strange feeling for first goal"

Dortmund: Bürki - Akanji, Hummels, Zagadou - Hakimi, Weigl, Brandt, Guerreiro (Schulz 84') - Hazard, Reus (c), Sancho (Piszczek 71')
Unused subs: Hitz, Dahoud, Alcacer, Götze, Balerdi, Morey, Bruun Larsen
Out: Delaney (ankle), Schmelzer (calf), Witsel (facial injury)
Coach: Lucien Favre

Leipzig: Gulacsi – Klostermann, Mukiele, Upamecano, Halstenberg – Sabitzer (Cunha 70'), Laimer, Demme (c), Forsberg (Nkunku 46') – Werner, Poulsen (Schick 62')
Unused subs: Mvogo, Haidara, Ilsanker, Lookman, Wolf, Ampadu
Out: Kampl (ankle), Konate (hamstring), Orban (knee)
Coach: Julian Nagelsmann

Watch: Bürki: "We gifted him the goals"