Maximilian Beier’s 70th-minute strike earned Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 victory at Stuttgart on Saturday, sending the Bundesliga giants to the top of the early-season table.
Beier tapped in from Jobe Bellingham’s low cross to move Dortmund to the summit for the first time since May 2023, 1,212 days after they surrendered the title on the final day of that campaign with a home draw against Mainz.
The victory also marked the first time in a decade that Dortmund have won their opening four Bundesliga matches.
“Sounds good to me,” Beier told Sky Germany. “We’ll take that.”
Beier entered the match determined to respond after being left out of Jurgen Klopp’s expanded 44-man Germany squad announced on Thursday, despite having been part of the country’s World Cup squad.
Dortmund coach Niko Kovac praised the forward’s reaction to the disappointment.
“Life writes great stories… I’m happy for him,” Kovac said.
Beier had an early opportunity to put Dortmund ahead but headed wide from close range after just four minutes.
Stuttgart also threatened before the break, with former Leicester forward Bilal El Khannouss firing narrowly wide shortly before half-time.
Dortmund introduced Greek teenager Konstantinos Karetsas shortly after the hour mark. The summer signing was making his return after being stretchered off with a cardiovascular issue during a Champions League match earlier in September.
With 20 minutes remaining, Karetsas produced a clever pass for Bellingham, who drove a low cross across the penalty area. Beier reacted quickest to tap home and give Dortmund all three poiFrankfurt Hold Freiburg
Freiburg missed the chance to keep pace at the top of the table after being held to a 2-2 draw by Eintracht Frankfurt earlier on Saturday.
Bayern Munich’s emphatic 7-0 victory over Union Berlin on Friday had moved the Bavarians above Freiburg, and the Black Forest side were unable to reclaim top spot after dropping their first points of the season.
Several players included in Klopp’s expanded Germany squad featured prominently in an entertaining encounter.
Frankfurt took the lead after 10 minutes when Younes Ebnoutalib finished a flowing team move, just days after receiving his first Germany call-up.
Derry Scherhant, another surprise inclusion in Klopp’s squad, equalised for Freiburg before Jonathan Burkardt restored Frankfurt’s lead.
Scherhant then turned provider, setting up Yuito Suzuki for Freiburg’s second goal and a share of the points.
The draw left Freiburg level with Bayern on 10 points.
“I would have liked to join the national team as the league leader — with my head held high,” Freiburg’s Philipp Treu told reporters.
“But now we’re the hunters again. And we enjoy that, too.”
Fuellkrug leads Bremen comeback
West Ham loanee Niclas Fuellkrug continued his impressive return to Germany by scoring for a third consecutive Bundesliga match as Werder Bremen came from two goals down to defeat Augsburg 3-2.
Fuellkrug levelled the score with a powerful long-range strike in the 86th minute before former Bayern defender Mitchell Weiser completed the comeback with a stoppage-time winner.
Elsewhere, Hamburg recorded their first goal, victory and points of the season with a 2-1 home win over Cologne.
Albert Grønbæk provided the assists for Nicolas Capaldo and Yussuf Poulsen as Hamburg, one of German football’s traditional giants, climbed off the bottom of the table.
Hamburg moved above Borussia Mönchengladbach, who suffered their fourth consecutive defeat after losing a thrilling 4-3 encounter at home to Mainz.
Just days after parting company with sacked coach Eugen Polanski, Gladbach endured another difficult afternoon, including a missed penalty.
They remain the only Bundesliga side without a point after four matchdays.
AFP
