Marco Reus stars as Borussia Dortmund beat Bayern Munich in thriller

Borussia Dortmund came out on top in the 99th Der Klassiker after a thrilling 3-2 win over arch rivals Bayern Munich at the Westfalenstadion. The result means that Dortmund now have a seven point cushion over rivals Bayern Munich.

Borussia Dortmund went into the match without Roman Burki who suffered a thigh injury on Tuesday. A few surprise names were in the starting XI too, such as Julian Weigl in place of Delaney and Gotze in place of Paco Alcacer. Bayern used the same starting 11 as they did in their Champions League victory over AEK Athens.

Der BVB choose to invite pressure from Bayern in the first half and hit them on the counter. While this was effective to an extent the only real chance was Dortmund had to go 1-0 up was a one-on-one shot by Marco Reus straight at Manuel Neuer. Often time it would be Jadon Sancho who would lead the counter-attack but Bayern’s back four had completely shut him down in the first half. A lot of room for improvement going into the second half.

After an average first-half display, which saw the Black and Yellows go into the break a goal down after Robert Lewandowski pounced on an excellent cross from Serge Gnabry which put the Bavarians 1-0 up. No doubt that Bayern dominated the first half but Favre had a few tricks up his sleeve with the likes of Paco Alacer, Pulisic, and Dahoud on the bench.

Dortmund were a team reborn in the second half. The first half saw Dortmund sit back and invite pressure from Bayern and hit them on the counter. But the second half was a different story. Favre brought on Dahoud for Weigl and he immediately made an impact. The right wing was a lot more vulnerable after as Jadon Sancho found his feet. And in the 49th minute, Dortmund equalised after a penalty drawn by Reus who slotted it home with a cool finish.

The feeling of joy was shortlived as Bayern immediately restored their lead after an excellent move from Kimmich and Gnabry which saw Lewandowski slot in his second goal of the night. And he could’ve gone on to secure his hattrick if his next shot wasn’t ruled offside by the linesman. Dortmund had excellent chances at the other end which could have come back to haunt them later. Gotze was then replaced by Alcacer.

Marco Reus had his effort cleared off this line while Paco Alcacer was stopped by Jerome Boateng just inches from the goal line. The pressure eventually paid off after a low Lukasz Piszczek cross was finished beautifully into the bottom corner by Marco Reus in the 67th minute. And only five minutes later Jadon Sancho snatched the ball from Ribery and fed it to Reus who gave a quick touch to Witsel who fed Alcacer an exquisite through ball only for the Spaniard to dink it over Neuer and give Dortmund the lead for the first time in the game.

Despite leading the game against Bayern Munich, Dortmund were still the team that was most likely to score the next goal. Dortmund were handling the pressure but Bayern still came close to equalising. And in the dying seconds of the game when a win was in sight, Lewandowski’s backheel found its way past Hitz but the goal was correctly ruled offside. Agonizing few seconds for Dortmund fans all over the world.

In the end, the Black and Yellows picked up a well deserved 3 points against Bayern and go into the international break 4 points clear at the top and 7 points clear of the Bavarians. It was definitely one of the games of the season and slaps the label of title contenders back on Borussia Dortmund.

Anyway here’s Bayern Munich board members Karl Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeneß drenched in beer after Alcacer’s goal.