Niko Kovac conceded that his overriding feeling was one of annoyance despite his Borussia Dortmund side beating Koln 2-1 at RheinEnergieSTADION in the Bundesliga.

After losing their top-of-the-table clash with Bayern Munich in their last league match, Dortmund returned to winning ways on Saturday thanks to Maximilian Beier's fine display. 

Beier teed up Serhou Guirassy to open the scoring in the 16th minute before getting himself on the scoresheet on the hour to put Dortmund in control away from home. 

Jakub Kaminski's 88th-minute strike set up a nervy finish for Dortmund, but they were able to hold on to stay 11 points behind leaders Bayern and keep Hoffenheim at bay. 

But it was from a convincing display from BVB, who finished the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.95 from their 13 shots to Koln's 1.14 from their 14 attempts. 

And Kovac was left wanting more from his team, telling reporters: "We won a game tonight in which we didn't play well – as a coach you are allowed to be annoyed about that. 

"We lost against Bayern last week, but I still liked the way we played. Today we won, but I didn't like the way we played at all. We weren't sharp enough.

"If everyone runs one metre less, then you're missing tackles somewhere, you're missing challenges, and ultimately you're missing what you need to stay in the game."

Kovac's comments were echoed by midfielder Felix Nmecha, who believed his team must rediscover their clinical edge to get results wrapped up much sooner. 

"There are definitely issues we need to discuss, but it's generally difficult to find a new focus now that Bayern are out of the picture," Nmecha added. "We have to stay positive.

"It was an important win for us. But I want us to kill off games like this more quickly in the future. We mustn't just focus on the negative aspects now.

"We've lost two games in the Bundesliga so far. It's not as if we're doing badly in the league."

With nine games left of their Bundesliga campaign, Dortmund are in a strong position to secure Champions League football, having already been eliminated from UEFA's flagship competition in 2025-26 after losing 4-3 on aggregate to Atalanta. 

They are also out of the DFB-Pokal, and Beier believes that without those added distractions, Dortmund can kick on to finish their league campaign on a high. 

"I would have liked to see a bit more confidence, but a win is a win," Beier said. "We now have nine games left, we want to win all nine – and then we'll see where we end up."