Borussia Dortmund struggled for a long time at VfL Wolfsburg, but then managed to secure another important victory. Once again, Serhou Guirassy was the match winner.

Championship contenders Borussia Dortmund have managed to close the gap on Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga and increased the pressure on the league leaders. Coach Niko Kovac’s team won 2-1 (1-0) at crisis-stricken VfL Wolfsburg, reducing the gap to the league leaders to three points, at least overnight. Meanwhile, the Wolves are sliding deeper and deeper into sporting crisis. Julian Brandt (38th minute) and match winner Serhou Guirassy (87th minute) scored for BVB, who are now hot on the heels of Munich (51 points) with 48 points of their own. On February 28, they will face Bayern in a direct duel, with Bayern having the chance to extend their lead on Sunday against TSG Hoffenheim, who are currently in good form.

While Dortmund continued their winning streak of 14 games without defeat, Wolfsburg’s relegation worries are intensifying with 19 points on the board after their third defeat in a row. Konstantinos Koulierakis’ goal (52′) was not enough for VfL to break free.

Despite the favorable starting position, Kovac did not 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 at the moment. We have to keep them at bay.” Kovac had to do without Marcel Sabitzer, Filippo Mane and, at short notice, Karim Adeyemi due to injury. Emre Can was missing due to adductor problems – and is likely to be out for the next few weeks – while Yan Couto was also unavailable due to illness.

In view of the absences, Kovac changed his starting lineup in three positions compared to the hard-fought victory against 1. FC Heidenheim (3-2) and sent Niklas Süle, Julian Ryerson, and Maxi Beier onto the pitch from the start. BVB had the better of the game at first, but Wolfsburg showed themselves to be aggressive in the tackles. Dortmund’s first clear chance came through Serhou Guirassy (7th minute), but his shot was deflected behind for a corner, which came to nothing. The visitors continued to press, with VfL keeper Kamil Grabara (13th minute) denying Süle. Then came the first setback for Wolfsburg: Kilian Fischer had to leave the pitch injured after receiving treatment and was replaced by Jan Bürger (17′). Wolfsburg were hardly able to get going offensively, with Mohamed Amoura’s counterattacks proving unsuccessful. The striker missed a huge chance when he shot wide with only the goalkeeper to beat (26′).

Shortly afterwards, BVB were unlucky: Beier’s shot was deflected under the crossbar by Denis Vavro in desperation – the ball bounced off the turf in front of the goal line (32′). Brandt finally headed Dortmund into the lead from a corner. Shortly after the break, however, Koulierakis brought Wolfsburg back into the game. BVB tried to control the game, but VfL continued to pose a threat through Amoura, although they wasted several promising opportunities. At the other end, Guirassy remained clinical shortly before the end.