Dortmund after a slap from Leipzig. Brandt scored two goals to win against Stuttgart

Borussia Dortmund, after losing 1:4 to Leipzig on the weekend, won 2:0 against Stuttgart in the preliminary match of the 29th round of the German Bundesliga on Friday. German midfielder Julian Brandt scored two goals for the Black and Yellows.

Brandt did not feature at all in coach Marco Rose’s starting eleven. However, he was on the field in the 6th minute when American winger Giovanni Reyna was injured and had to leave the field.

The third team of the last Bundesliga season started more actively. In the 9th minute, Raphael Guerreiro took a shot on the edge of the penalty area, but unfortunately for Borussia, his attempt ended up on the left post of Stuttgart’s goal.

Dortmund crowned a sympathetic performance with a goal. Erling Haaland’s pass found a completely free Brandt, who had no too difficult task in front of him and tapped the ball from the first into the empty net. However, Dortmund’s joy was put to an end by the linesman when he raised the flag over his head, signaling an offside, which he thought should have been Haaland’s pass.

However, the video came into play and awarded Dortmund a regulation goal. Brandt was thus able to enjoy his first league goal in 2022. The last time he scored was back in December at Hertha Berlin.

On the other side, the home side made their presence felt. In the 23rd minute, Orel Mangala sent the ball behind the defence to Omar Marmoush, whose attempt flew just over the crossbar of Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. Dortmund did not create any more chances until the end of the half. Instead, they had to make another substitution.

Injured midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud was unable to continue and Belgian Axel Witsel came on in his place in the 36th minute. Stuttgart did not get a significant scoring opportunity and both teams went into the box with a 1:0 scoreline in Dortmund’s favour.

At the start of the second act, coach Rose pulled veteran Mats Hummels from the field and Dan-Axel Zagadou took his place in defence. Borussia’s players did not follow up their active performance from the first half, but after an hour of play Marco Reus could have scored. But his attempt from the edge of the box missed the three posts.

Two minutes later, home right-back Pascal Stenzel had his best chance yet. After handling a deflected ball, he sent a hard-to-catch projectile towards Kobel’s goal, which unfortunately for him only hit the post. In the 67th minute, the visitors’ far defender scored. Guerreiro, however, shot over the opponent’s goal in the penalty area.

Four minutes after Guerreiro’s chance, the Black and Yellows scored a second goal. Once again it was thanks to Julian Brandt, who placed his shot from mid-range into the bottom right corner of the goal, which was guarded by Florian Müller.

In the 71st minute, the home side claimed a penalty kick after what they thought was a handball by Guerreiro in the penalty area. However, the head referee did not award the penalty, claiming that the ball had bounced off the Portuguese midfielder’s foot and was not foul play.

The final ten minutes of the match brought several chances for Stuttgart to equalise. First, Borna Sosa sent a wraparound shot at the opposition goal and if it wasn’t for a fantastic save by Kobel, Sosa would have scored a wonderful goal. The same player could have scored another goal in the 90th minute, but his attempt ended up on the crossbar.

Then, at the very end, VAR took away Haaland’s goal for offside. Stuttgart was unable to score against their rivals and Dortmund were able to add three points to the league table, bringing Bayern Munich’s lead at the top of the table down to six points. However, the Munich giants have one game less than the currently second-placed Dortmund.

Stuttgart will take on Mainz in the next round, while Dortmund will welcome Wolfsburg at their stadium.

Sources: Bundesliga