Borussia Dortmund struggled for a long time against VfL Wolfsburg but ultimately secured another crucial victory. Once again, Serhou Guirassy was the hero of the match.

Borussia Dortmund, chasing the title, has struggled but continued to close the gap on Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, increasing the pressure on the league leaders. Coach Niko Kovac’s team prevailed 2-1 (1-0) against a struggling VfL Wolfsburg, narrowing the gap to the league leader to three points—at least overnight. Meanwhile, the Wolves are sliding deeper and deeper into a sporting crisis.

Julian Brandt (38′) and match-winner Serhou Guirassy (87′) scored for BVB, which is now hot on the heels of Munich (51) with 48 points. On February 28, the two teams will face off directly against Bayern, who can build on their momentum on Sunday against the currently in-form TSG Hoffenheim.

While Dortmund extended their unbeaten streak to 14 games, relegation fears are mounting in Wolfsburg—which has 19 points—following its third straight loss. Konstantinos Koulierakis’s goal (52nd minute) wasn’t enough for VfL to turn things around.

Despite their favorable position, Kovac didn’t want to look toward the top of the table ahead of the match against his former club. “It’s not about Bayern,” the BVB coach emphasized on Sky: “Leipzig, Leverkusen, Hoffenheim, Stuttgart—those are our current opponents right now. We have to keep them at bay.” In addition to Marcel Sabitzer and Filippo Mane, Kovac also had to do without Karim Adeyemi at the last minute due to injury. Emre Can was out with adductor problems—and is likely to remain sidelined in the coming weeks—while Yan Couto was also sidelined due to illness.

In light of the absences, Kovac made three changes to his starting lineup compared to the hard-fought victory against 1. FC Heidenheim (3–2), sending Niklas Süle, Julian Ryerson, and Maxi Beier onto the field from the start. BVB had the better of the play early on, but Wolfsburg proved tenacious in the tackles. Dortmund’s first clear chance, created by Serhou Guirassy (7th minute), was deflected out of bounds; the ensuing corner kick came to nothing.

The visitors continued to apply pressure, and VfL goalkeeper Kamil Grabara (13th minute) was on hand to deny Süle. Then came the first setback for Wolfsburg: Kilian Fischer had to leave the field injured after receiving medical attention; Jan Bürger replaced him (17th minute). Wolfsburg barely managed to create any offensive opportunities, and their counterattacks led by Mohamed Amoura came to nothing. The striker squandered a huge chance, shooting wide while unmarked in front of the goal (26th minute).

Shortly afterward, BVB had some bad luck: Denis Vavro managed to deflect Beier’s shot under the crossbar at the last moment—the ball bounced onto the grass just in front of the goal line (32′). Brandt finally headed Dortmund into the lead following a corner kick. Shortly after the break, however, Koulierakis brought Wolfsburg back into the game. BVB tried to take control of the match. VfL, however, remained dangerous time and again through Amoura, though they squandered several promising opportunities. On the other end, Guirassy kept his cool just before the final whistle.