Maximilian Beier came off the bench to score a sensational late winner as Borussia Dortmund moved to the top of the Bundesliga with a 1-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Eintracht Frankfurt: Beier stunner lifts Kovac's side to Bundesliga summit
Borussia Dortmund secured a late win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, courtesy of a Maximilian Beier wonder-strike.
Ahead of Bayern Munich's clash with Freiburg on Sunday, Niko Kovac's side piled the pressure on their rivals by opening up a three-point lead at the summit.
Fabio Silva sent a header whizzing over the crossbar nine minutes in as Dortmund looked to set an early marker at Signal Iduna Park, with Serhou Guirassy seeing a low drive from range parried by Noah Atubolu.
Atubolu was on hand to deny Guirassy again moments later, while Frankfurt's first real moment of promise came from Jonathan Burkardt, whose 20-yard strike flew past the right-hand post.
Midfielder Joey Veerman then posed a strong threat for Dortmund with his set piece delivery, sending a pair of dangerous crosses into the box in quick succession in the 31st minute, with both Guirassy and Felix Nmecha heading off-target.
Gregor Kobel was then called into action for the first time three minutes later to block Younes Ebnoutalib's close-range poke, before diving at full stretch to parry Fares Chaibi's top-corner strike from distance immediately after the restart.
Dortmund went close again when Veerman supplied another pinpoint cross for Guirassy, whose header crashed against the crossbar.
Further half-chances for Ramy Bensebaini and Julian Ryerson went begging as Dortmund appeared destined to settle for a point, but substitute Beier produced a moment of magic late on.
The German controlled Jobe Bellingham's pass on the edge of the area before curling a spectacular effort into the top corner beyond a helpless Atubolu, sending Signal Iduna Park into raptures and lifting Dortmund to the Bundesliga summit.
Dortmund dazzle at home
While Bayern's dominance has often left Dortmund playing second fiddle in the Bundesliga, Kovac's side have announced themselves as strong title contenders this season.
And victories like Saturday's, even when far from convincing, could prove crucial if Dortmund are to mount a sustained challenge for the title.
Indeed, Kovac's side have collected 17 points from their opening seven Bundesliga games – their best start to a campaign since 2023-24, when they also had 17 at this stage. They last amassed more points after seven matches in 2017-18 (19).
Dortmund have also enjoyed remarkable success against Eintracht Frankfurt, recording more Bundesliga victories (53) and home wins (40) against them than any other opponent.
In fact, they have now won 15 of their last 16 home league meetings with Frankfurt, with their only defeat across that run coming in April 2021 (2-1).
The Black and Yellow have also kept five clean sheets in their opening seven Bundesliga matches this season, equalling their club record at this stage of a campaign, previously achieved in 2020-21.
And while their wastefulness in front of goal nearly threatened to prove costly, Dortmund ultimately made their dominance count, generating 1.54 expected goals (xG) to Frankfurt's 0.82.
