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With Bayern Munich not playing until Thursday (AEDT), Dortmund closed the gap at the top to eight points by returning to winning ways.

It took Dortmund just 11 minutes to break the deadlock as captain Nico Schlotterbeck rose to nod a simple header past Mio Backhaus from a Julian Ryerson corner.

Justin Njinmah, who had forced a smart save out of Gregor Kobel in the opening four minutes, continued to provide a threat for Werder, but was thwarted again in the 18th minute in a one-on-one.

Dortmund's Marcel Sabitzer and Werder's Romano Schmid had chances saved on either side of half-time, but Maximilian Beier initially came closest to another goal, seeing his first attempt smothered by Backhaus before his follow-up was cleared on the line by Amos Pieper.

The hosts' dominance continued, and Sabitzer eventually got their second, firing his half-volley into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box 75 minutes in.

Guirassy got his long-awaited goal in the 83rd minute to secure the points, ending his run of seven Bundesliga games without netting as he slotted home after a mistake at the back for Werder.

The win lifted Dortmund to 36 points in second place. Stuttgart climbed to third on 32 after a 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Leipzig is fourth on 29 with two games in hand while Bayer Leverkusen, also on 29, had its match against Hamburg SV postponed because of snow.

Bayern, on 44 points, will travel to FC Koln on Thursday (AEDT).