Borussia Dortmund scrape past Arminia Bielefeld as Erling Haaland, Gio Reyna return from injuries

Marius Wolf scored the only goal of the game as Borussia Dortmund claimed a hard fought 1-0 win at home to Arminia Bielefeld in the Bundesliga. 

Borussia Dortmund desperately needed a win, and they got one on Sunday evening against Arminia Bielefeld. It wasn’t the prettiest of performances from the Black and Yellows, but they got the job done in the end courtesy of Marius Wolf’s first-half strike. And to make the result even sweeter, Erling Haaland and Gio Reyna both returned to action after recovering from their respective injuries.

The narrow win also helped Borussia Dortmund close the gap to Bayern Munich to seven points. Marco Rose’s side have a game in hand on their title rivals, which they will play on Wednesday.

Marco Rose will certainly be pleased with the result, especially considering the number of players who were unavailable on Sunday. The 45 year old was forced into making a string of changes to his starting XI, with the likes of Marco Reus, Manuel Akanji and Mats Hummels among the many key players sidelined.

Axel Witsel captained the team, while Felix Passlack made his first start since August in a makeshift back four that also featured Emre Can, Marin Pongracic and Nico Schulz.

Borussia Dortmund made a somewhat sluggish start to the game, allowing Arminia Bielefeld to create a couple of dangerous openings in the early stages. But it was Dortmund who struck the first blow, with Marius Wolf finding the net in the 21st minute.

Jude Bellingham played an excellent pass to find Thorgan Hazard unmarked on the right wing. The Belgian international crossed the ball into the box, and Wolf made no mistake from close range.

The goal gave Borussia Dortmund the confidence to take control of the game, and Donyell Malen came close to adding to the lead on a couple of occasions in the first-half. The Netherlands international was denied by the crossbar in the second half as Dortmund looked to double their lead.

Erling Haaland and Gio Reyna made their injury comebacks at the hour mark. And while it was an uneventful evening for the duo, Borussia Dortmund will no doubt be delighted to have them back going into the business end of the season.

Arminia Bielefeld created a couple of half chances late on, but lacked the quality to cause any real problems to the makeshift BVB defence.

Borussia Dortmund managed to see out the 1-0 win in the end despite not being at their best. Up next for Marco Rose’s side is a trip to Mainz on Wednesday. And they will need to deliver a much improved performance if they want to get the three points against the 05ers.