Borussia Dortmund sporting manager Nils-Ole Book is 'pleased' with his side's performance against Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Maximilian Beier scored the only goal of the game after 70 minutes as the BVB continued their winning start to the league season.
The rivals canceled each other out in a cautious first half where neither had many attempts at goal although Die Roten seemed more threatening.
Dortmund grew into the match after the break with more incisive runs into the final third as tides truly turned following a double switch by Niko Kovac after the hour mark.
Jobe Bellingham and Konstantinos Karetsas came on for the visitors, who then appeared more in control and the decisive moment arrived in the 70th minute.
Both substituted combined near the box with Karetsas picking out Bellingham on the edge of the penalty area as Bellingham then squared it to Beier, who bundled it home from close-range.
Book, who was in the stands to watch Dortmund in action, expressed his pleasure at watching his side hold their own against a well-oiled Stuttgart unit.
"It was the tough away game we expected — definitely one of the most challenging games so far this season. We’re very pleased with our performance, and obviously with the result as well. We showed of a lot of good components of our game and played really well against a team that is capable of dominating many opponents at home."
Although Stuttgart finished with more shots on target (5) than Dortmund (2), the hosts lacked the firepower to truly make their chances count as Beier's moment of quality in front of goal eventually made the difference.
With a third clean sheet in the bag from their opening five games of the league season, Book hailed Dortmund's stoic defending:
"It was an evenly matched game, but at the end of the day, our superior efficiency and stronger defending inside the box secured the win for us. There's a reason the team conceded very few goals last year. This time around, we look extremely solid again. Many patterns of play, especially inside our own box, are the product of hard work."
After Julian Ryerson went off in the 82nd minute, Stuttgart looked to build pressure from the right but Dortmund were able to absorb it and avoid squeaky bum time.
With Freiburg dropping points earlier in the day, Dortmund now remain the only side with a 100% win record in the 2026-27 Bundesliga season after four games and take the top spot on the table with 12 points.
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