Berlin: Youssoufa Moukoko’s decider helped Borussia Dortmund overpower Union Berlin 2-1 while Bayern Munich moved 1-0 past Freiburg thanks to the hammer from Matthijs de Ligt in the 27th round of the Bundesliga.
The BVB controlled possession from the starting whistle, whereas Union implemented a wait-and-see strategy Saturday night.
Berlin kept all its men behind the ball but still couldn’t keep Dortmund at bay as the BVB opened the scoring with 27 minutes gone when Raphael Guerreiro’s whipped cross into the box allowed Donyell Malen to mark his third straight Bundesliga goal, a Xinhua report said.
Union showed no interest to take over and were lucky in the closing stages of the first half as goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow defused Sebastien Haller’s dangerous header.
After the restart, Dortmund reduced its offensive efforts and got punished at the hour mark after Kevin Behrens made the most of Sheraldo Becker’s good build-up work to restore parity out of thin air in the 61st minute.
Both sides responded with attacks and were in search for the winner. Dortmund had the last laugh though and took the lead again in the 78th minute when 18-year-old Moukoko beat Ronnow five minutes after his substitution in his 50th Bundesliga appearance.
Dortmund almost made it 3-1 but Ronnow was equal to Jamie Bynoe-Gittens’ attempt in the dying seconds of the clash.
With the result, Dortmund defended the second spot in the standings and stay two points adrift of front runners Bayern Munich.
“We wanted to apologize to the fans for the performances in Munich and Leipzig. We want to start with a winning streak again,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic.
Elsewhere, Bayern Munich defended its lead in the table after seeing off stubborn Freiburg on the sole goal of De Ligt, whose long-range goal secured the German record champions a vital win in the title race.
“It is a very good win for us. We have it in our hands now in the league,” said Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel.
Bayer Leverkusen jump into the top six after reaping its seventh consecutive win with a 3-1 over Eintracht Frankfurt. Cologne ended its losing run and stunned Augsburg 3-1. Mainz and Bremen worked out a 2-2 stalemate while Leipzig edged relegation threatened Hertha Berlin 1-0.
IANS