German Bundesliga

Dortmund win, Leipzig down Wolfsburg

Karim Adeyemi scored the goal to make it 2:0.(Bild: AFP/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV)

Borussia Dortmund remain hot on the heels of leaders FC Bayern in the German Bundesliga. ÖFB team player Marcel Sabitzer and Co. won 2:0 at FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday to maintain their unbeaten status and remain just two points behind the flawless defending champions. The latter had already gained the upper hand with a 4-0 win over Werder Bremen on Friday to kick off Round 5. Third place is still occupied by RB Leipzig.

Despite a missed penalty by Christoph Baumgartner (90th), the "Bulls" won 1-0 in Wolfsburg and are only three points off the top spot after their fourth win of the season. Bayer Leverkusen jumped to fourth place for the time being thanks to a 2:1 win at FC St. Pauli. The Werkself thus remain unbeaten under new coach Kasper Hjulmand. 1. FC Heidenheim collected their first points with a 2:1 win against FC Augsburg, with both stragglers on three points. The "red lantern" will remain with Mönchengladbach (2) at least until Sunday.

Dortmund as counter-attack specialists
Dortmund shone as counter-attack specialists in Mainz. Immediately after Mainz's Paul Nebel had hit the bar, Daniel Svensson made it 1:0 for the visitors at the end of a counter-attack (27'). Karim Adeyemi had his feet in the goal, which was also the case with goal number two. This time, the ex-Salzburg man used his speed to initiate a counter-attack in his own half and finished into the corner himself after preparatory work from Julian Brandt (40'). Adeyemi has now been involved in six goals in the last four competitive matches, scoring three times himself.

  There was only one more upset after the break. Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner was the last man to foul Adeyemi outside the penalty area as he broke through after a long Kobel clearance and was rightly shown the red card (67'). BVB failed to score any more goals with Sabitzer playing until the 77th minute despite being outnumbered.

An early goal from Johan Bakayoko (8') was enough for Leipzig, who also had Nicolas Seiwald in the starting eleven alongside Baumgartner, to take three points from Wolfsburg and secure win number four in a row. The fact that Baumgartner put a penalty just wide of the goal shortly before the end had no consequences. For Wolfsburg, Patrick Wimmer remained in the dressing room at the break. Leverkusen continued their upward trend under Hjulmand, picking up seven points out of a possible nine. Edmond Tapsoba (25) and Ernest Poku (58) scored for the 2024 champions.