It wasn’t exactly a commanding performance, but Borussia Dortmund still managed to defeat Werder Bremen 3-0 on matchday 17, demonstrating their efficiency in the process.

Nico Schlotterbeck rolled up his short sleeves and flexed his biceps. There it was again, the trademark celebration of Borussia Dortmund’s captain – at a very important moment. With his header in the eleventh minute, he set the course for a 3-0 (1-0) victory over SV Werder Bremen on Tuesday evening in a tough first half of the season.

Marcel Sabitzer (76th minute) and substitute Serhou Guirassy (83rd minute) added to the tally. This kept Dortmund four points ahead of VfB Stuttgart (3-2 against Eintracht Frankfurt), who were also successful, and they will start the second half of the season as Bayern Munich’s closest pursuers when they face FC St. Pauli on Saturday (3:30 p.m./Sky).

The striker question at BVB had been hotly debated in the days leading up to the match. Serhou Guirassy had been waiting for a Bundesliga goal since the end of October and had recently seemed like a shadow of his former self. Fabio Silva, on the other hand, always brought momentum to Dortmund’s game when he came on as a substitute. At around 7:30 p.m., it was certain: there would be a changing of the guard in the black-and-yellow attack, at least for one evening of soccer. Guirassy took the decision “very professionally,” assured coach Niko Kovac. “He can add one and one together, and now his teammate deserves a chance,” said Kovac, who at the same time emphasized that the tide could turn again: “We still have six games to play until the end of this month. I think he deserves to start. But I still have faith in my striker.”

Four days after the dramatic and unnecessary 3-3 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga restart, Kovac opted for a slightly more offensive and stronger approach against Bremen, who had not won in six games and whose season opener against TSG Hoffenheim fell victim to heavy snowfall. In addition to Silva, Yan Couto replaced Daniel Svensson and Carney Chukwuemeka, who scored the much-celebrated 3-3 equalizer in stoppage time in Frankfurt, replaced Julian Brandt in the starting lineup. However, the newcomers were unable to really invigorate BVB. Instead, Dortmund were guilty of inaccuracies in their build-up play, which a stronger opponent would probably have punished. Justin Njinmah had the first shot after just four minutes, Marco Grüll fired over just a minute later, and then (18′) Njinmah escaped the BVB defenders in a position that looked suspiciously offside. Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel kept his cool on both Njinmah chances: first with a flying save, then stretching to stop the Bremen player’s lob. Nevertheless, Dortmund continued to wobble as Bremen forced high ball wins and then launched lightning-fast counterattacks.

BVB once again had a tough first half, which the crowd acknowledged with audible whistles. However, despite the lack of entertaining football, the result at half-time was satisfactory from Dortmund’s point of view. The 1-0 lead came in line with the run of play after a corner, which Julian Ryerson headed precisely onto the head of Nico Schlotterbeck (11′). Neither the defenders nor the hesitant goalkeeper Mio Backhaus were able to prevent the defensive leader from scoring in the five-meter area. BVB was unable to get beyond a few attempts at combination play involving Chukwuemekea or Silva, such as in the attack that resulted in the corner kick that led to the goal.

Bremen became bolder after the break because the visitors from the north sensed that there was still something to be had in this game. Once again, Dortmund missed an early chance to seal the deal with a comfortable 2-0 lead. BVB came close in the 55th minute when Maximilian Beier failed to beat Backhaus on the counterattack and then Amos Pieper, who cleared the ball off the line on the second attempt. Silva, who had joined the attack, was also unable to put the ball in the net. Marcel Sabitzer shot just over the bar (66′).

However, Werder lacked the quality up front to threaten BVB. Bremen failed to create any chances. Sabitzer then sealed the deal with his shot from 16 meters to make it 2-0, and Guirassy also ended his Bundesliga goal drought.