Borussia Dortmund celebrated coach Niko Kovac’s anniversary with a brace from Serhou Guirassy and took advantage of Bayern Munich’s slip-up.
One year after taking office, the coach saw a hard-fought 3-2 (1-1) win against relegation-threatened 1. FC Heidenheim, which reduced BVB’s deficit to the record champions to six points. Munich had only managed a 2-2 draw at Hamburger SV the day before.
As so often in the league under Kovac, Dortmund played very cautiously at first – but unlike recently, this style of play did not help them control the game. Shortly before half-time, Waldemar Anton (44′) scored the 1-0 for BVB, but Julian Niehues (45’+4) equalized and then scored the 2-1 (48′). Guirassy (68th minute, handball penalty, 70th minute), who had been struggling for weeks, then turned the game around with a double strike. The striker missed out on a hat trick with a penalty kick (85th minute).
Kovac, who has been with BVB since February 2, 2025, and has stabilized the team defensively in particular, watched most of the game with his arms crossed in his coaching zone. In recent weeks, BVB had often been able to rely on its individual superiority thanks to a stable defense. However, Dortmund rarely shone in terms of their play, and this was also evident against the unsettled Heidenheim team.
It took a good quarter of an hour for the first highlight to occur, with Guirassy (14th minute) shooting at goal from a tight angle. Otherwise, there was hardly any difference in performance to be seen; on the contrary: Heidenheim played lively and had a huge chance through returnee Eren Dinkci (26′).
The game picked up pace, with Guirassy, who Kovac had recently given a pep talk, hitting the crossbar with a turn and shot (38′). Then BVB celebrated after a corner: Anton scored after Diant Ramaj dropped the ball. Heidenheim complained, mainly because a similar situation on the other side had been decided differently earlier in the game. Referee Matthias Jöllenbeck had disallowed a goal by Patrick Mainka (25′) because the Heidenheim captain had bumped into goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
The visitors shook it off quickly and equalized through Niehues before the break to make it 1-1. Dortmund’s Filippo Mané had fallen to the ground injured during the build-up and the young Italian was unable to continue. Niklas Süle came on to replace him.
Süle and the entire defense looked poor when the score became 2-1. Niehues finished off a quick counterattack with a strong finish. BVB failed to respond initially, so Kovac tried bringing on Maximilian Beier and Carney Chukwuemeka (58′) to freshen things up. Just seconds before that, Marvin Pieringer (57′) had missed Heidenheim’s next big chance. Dortmund struggled to respond and took advantage of Niklas Dorsch’s handball in the penalty area. After the equalizer, BVB overwhelmed the visitors, with Guirassy in particular looking relaxed. The striker won the second penalty, but the Guinean chipped it into the south stand. BVB had to continue to sweat. Arijon Ibrahimovic (90+2) and Mikkel Kaufmann (90+6) both missed the equalizer from close range. Between Heidenheim’s big chances, Guirassy had to leave the field in pain.
