Borussia Dortmund held on to claim a dramatic 2-1 win over RB Leipzig and maintain their perfect start to 2023.
Borussia Dortmund dispatched title rivals RB Leipzig at home to return to the top of the Bundesliga standings. First half goals from Marco Reus and Emre Can helped the Black and Yellows make it ten wins in a row in all competitions.
It was another battling and committed performance from Edin Terzic’s side, who managed to get the job done once again to keep their incredible winning run going. RB Leipzig presented Borussia Dortmund with a tough test, but resolute defending in the second half helped the home side survive a number of scares and see out the win.
Here are our player ratings for the Borussia Dortmund players from their 2-1 win over RB Leipzig.
Alexander Meyer (7/10)
Meyer was a last minute addition to the starting XI and looked a little nervy at the start. There were a few moments where he took too much time on the ball. But he stood tall in the end and made a number of vital saves for his side to help see out the win.
Marius Wolf (6/10)
Wolf made a promising start to the game and had a number of encouraging moments going forward early on. He had his hands full defensively after the early stages, and did a fairly decent job for the most part. But he was caught ball watching in the lead-up to Leipzig’s goal, allowing David Raum to set up Emil Forsberg.
Niklas Süle (7/10)
Süle stuck to his task and put in another solid shift for his side. He made a number of vital tackles and won the majority of his duels to keep Andre Silva at bay for the most part.
Nico Schlotterbeck (8/10)
Schlotterbeck made a number of crucial last ditch challenges and blocks for his side once again. Had it not been for his accurate positioning and ability to put his body on the line, Borussia Dortmund certainly wouldn’t have won against Leipzig. His most notable block came in the final stages of the game, when he cleared Timo Werner’s goal-bound effort off the line.
Julian Ryerson (7/10)
Ryerson has struggled at times while playing at left-back. But against Leipzig, he delivered a strong performance and hardly put a foot wrong defensively. He also played with his usual commitment and desire in duels, and made sure that Leipzig weren’t able to threaten BVB down his flank.
Emre Can (7/10)
Can had a difficult start to the game, and failed to keep up with Nkunku early on. But luckily for him, the French forward wasn’t able to hit the target. He found his rhythm after that and made sure that he did not give RB Leipzig an inch in the middle of the park. The midfielder marshalled the BVB defence with great resolve, and also scored what proved to be the winning goal with his deflected effort.
Salih Özcan (6/10)
Özcan did not do much wrong and put in a hard working shift for his side. Once again, the Turkish international failed to add much to Borussia Dortmund’s build-up play. But that is not why he is in the team, and he did a decent job of disrupting Leipzig’s play in midfield.
Jude Bellingham (7/10)
Bellingham played a couple of gorgeous forward passes in the first half, including the one that led to Julian Brandt’s disallowed goal. He also showed great defensive discipline and tracked back more often than he did last weekend.
Julian Brandt (6/10)
Brandt was unlucky that his early goal was disallowed. But even though his scoring run ended in the Bundesliga, he managed to deliver another solid all-round performance for his side. The Germany international also helped out defensively, but did lose sight of Raum in the build-up to Leipzig’s goal.
Marco Reus (7/10)
Reus set the tone for Borussia Dortmund by scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot. His goal helped him become the club’s joint-second highest scorer of all time. He also forced an excellent save from the Leipzig goalkeeper in the second half, before being replaced by Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.
Sebastien Haller (5/10)
Haller wasn’t able to get involved in the game at all, and failed to register any shots over the course of the 71 minutes he spent on the pitch.