Player ratings: Pulisic helps Borussia Dortmund earn crucial win against Hoffenheim

Christian Pulisic scored a late winner to help Borussia Dortmund come from behind and earn a vital 2-1 win over rivals Hoffenheim.

Peter Stöger headed into his first home game for Borussia Dortmund after an away win in mid-week. Stöger was able to keep Borussia Dortmund in form after a bad start in the first half. BVB successfully made a second half comeback to beat Hoffenheim at home.

Here are the player ratings from the game.

Roman Burki (6/10)

Burki let one goal in during the match, unable to keep a second clean sheet in a row. Burki made some decent saves throughout. He performed well in between the post otherwise.

Jeremy Toljan (6/10)

Stöger has found a way to start unlocking the potential of Toljan. Toljan continues to play better than when the season started. He is making runs, defending strong and making up for the lack of quality he has shown.

Sokratis (7/10)

Sokratis’ was leading a late counter-attack when the game was tied at 1-1. He came into the possession to receive the ball, but the cross that followed was not good at all. However he led the defense well and made some important clearances for Dortmund.

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Omer Toprak (6/10)

Toprak played decent against Hoffenheim, his speed was useful against the counter-attack. Yet, he failed to respond when Schmelzer was unable to prevent the goal in the first half.

Marcel Schmelzer (6/10)

Schmelzer had one horrible mistake today, as the ball went directly past him on the counter-attack. Schmelzer did provide a lot of coverage and forward movement. However, he got lucky not to get called for a handball in the box near the end of the game.

Julian Weigl (5/10)

Weigl continued to show shades of his old form. But at the same time, he showed glimpses of his time under Bosz, giving the ball away quite cheaply at times. He did have a few mistakes, but he will continue improving with each game.

Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Shinji Kagawa are the main factors for the first goal.

MAINZ, GERMANY – DECEMBER 12: Shinji Kagawa /

Shinji Kagawa (7/10)

Kagawa is a proficient attacking midfielder, yet he did have a slow start in the first half. Kagawa stepped up his performance in the second half though. The Japanese international was the catalyst for the first goal for BVB as he was fouled in the box. His brilliant pass helped Pulisic score the late winner.

Raphael Guerreiro (5/10)

Guerreiro was once again missing from defensive duties as he tried to venture forward everytime he had the ball. Had some decent moments but needs to do better as a midfielder.

Christian Pulisic (8/10)

Pulisic was a workhorse today for Borussia Dortmund. Most important was his late goal for which he danced the ball around the Hoffenheim keeper. Pulisic often finds himself surrounded, and it will end up hurting his play in the long run. He seems to take plenty of chances forward by himself.

Yarmolenko had a bad performance for Borussia Dortmund. Stöger will need to get him in form as soon as possible.

DORTMUND, GERMANY – DECEMBER 16: Andrey Yarmolenko of Dortmund speaks with Head coach Peter Stoeger of Dortmund during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim at Signal Iduna Park on December 16, 2017 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images) /

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (7/10)

Aubameyang started the comeback by intelligently putting away the penalty in the 59th minute. It was quite unfortunate to witness his missed chance in the last play of the game. There is a chance that it could be the miss of the season. Made some decent runs throughout the game but his teammates couldn’t get the ball to him.

Andriy Yarmolenko (4/10)

Yarmolenko is not confident with his weak foot. It is horrible to witness Yarmolenko force a left foot shot instead of attempting to shoot with his right. Stöger will need to get Yarmolenko to act quicker and take an educated risk on the field. Beyond that, Yarmolenko needs to react better. He was subbed off in the 70th minute for Mo Dahoud.

Substitutes

Mahmoud Dahoud (5/10)

Dahoud blended into the formation very well. He played well on the left midfield; he will want to work on his shots though. He had a horrible miss at the end of the game; it was the last play of the match though and didn’t prevent his side from securing the win.

Neven Subotic – NR

Played for maybe a minute, nothing to note.

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