Kobel saves the win.

Welcome to The Dortmund Dispatch.

Thanks very much for subscribing. In this edition:

• Borussia struggled but win at the Westfalen.

• Kane gets down to business at the Weser.

• Can BVB get revenge in the Ruhr?

Borussia Dortmund 1, FC Koln 0

When FC Köln defender Max Finkgräfe popped up unmarked at the far post to meet a ball that had been flicked on from a corner in the 96^th minute of injury time it looked like his team has rescued a much-deserved point. However, as the ball arrived at Finkgräfe’s foot he volleyed in past the post, and out for a goal kick. His coach Steffen Baumgart was bent double with frustration and missing out on the draw they deserved.

The visitors put in a sterling performance and were it not for the timely intervention of Borussia goalkeeper Gregor Kobel would have scored at least one goal in the game. As it was, Dortmund had managed to fashion a goal from Donyell Malen who latched onto Sébastien Haller’s header from a corner by Julian Brandt in the 87th minute. It was not the tidiest finish; a scuffed shot that ballooned over ‘keeper Marvin Schwäbe and into the net. The Yellow Wall was relieved that their stubborn opponents had finally been overcome.

This is not to confuse stubbornness with plucky resistance against a superior team. On paper Dortmund are the better team, at least, certainly better paid. But the Billygoats, while understandably defensive were the equal of Dortmund if not better. They made it extremely hard for Borussia to establish any fluidity and restricted their goalscoring chances to just two on target, despite 66% possession against Koln’s four shots. It should be said, however, that BVB outperformed Koln on expected goals (1.8 to 1.2).

After the game, coach Edin Terzić acknowledged to ESPN’s Archie Rhind-Tutt that Köln had the better chances and if Gregor Kobel had not been on his mettle, the result could have been quite different.  He also made it clear “We are not happy with the way we performed… We didn’t start well, we tried to correct some things at half time… but in the end, it was not a good performance.”

In general, Terzić has been happy with the performance of the players in pre-season and training but somehow, once the whistle blew on the new season, they have come up short. But at least they have the three points and are off the mark.

As for their opponents, while the defeat would have been hard to stomach, they must believe that there are better days ahead. Effzeh will always be tough to break down and that will always keep them in games. But they could really do with a solid number 9 to give their attack some extra shape and bite.

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga

Bayern Munich (or Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich as they must now be known) got off to the perfect start to the season with a 4-0 win at Werder Bremen. Kane hit the turf running with an assist for Leroy Sané and then the second decisive goal in the second half. Werder did enough to give the illusion of a contest and make the game interesting for the neutral but succumbed to two late goals to put a dampener on the performance. Sané with his second and an absolute corker for Mathys Tel.

There is a lot of smart money on both Leverkusen and Leipzig challenging for the title. The two met on the opening day at the BayArena and treated the home fans to a thrilling 3-2 win for the home team. It should be said that Leipzig should have equalised at the death. New signing Lois Openda missed an open goal.

While Union Berlin showed off their fancy new shirt sponsor in their home game against Mainz their fans unfurled a choreo remaining the latest Champions League club to not forget its humble roots. Kevin Behrens scored a hat trick of headers to help Union win 4-1. But there are a couple of related stats to highlight from this game. Mainz had the better expected goals in this game (1.9 to 2.3) and
Ludovic Ajorque missed two penalties.

The return of Darmstadt to the Bundesliga means the return of the Hessen-Derby with Eintracht Frankfurt which the latter won 1-0. The other newly promoted side, Heidenheim were despatched 2-0 at Wolfsburg.

Despite being one of the most consistent teams in the league for the last five years, Freiburg tend to get overlooked. But their 2-1 win at near neighbours (don’t call them rivals) Hoffenheim was impressive and Christian Streich’s men look set fair for yet another top-six finish, if not higher.

And who can blame the rest of us for getting distracted when we have results like Augsburg 4, Borussia Monchengladbach 4? Seek this game out on the Bundesliga’s YouTube channel as it was too whacky to go into here. ‘Gladbach claimed a point in the 97th minute with a VAR penalty. Tomáš Čvančara was on the spot with his second of the game and on his debut to boot.

Stuttgart may have lost Wataru Endo to Liverpool, but they consoled themselves to a 5-0 win over Bochum. After a difficult few years it looks like VfB have arrived at a squad and coach to move forward, assuming they don’t lose any more players before the transfer window shuts. Their opponents were terrible which is interesting because…

Next up: VfL Bochum

Dortmund make the short trip to the Ruhrstadion, in Bochum for what was once the mini-Revierderby and what is now the actual Revierderby thanks to Schalke’s demise. You may remember this fixture from last year, in April where Dortmund conceded an early goal, equalised shortly thereafter but missed a hat full of chances to score. Bochum’s ‘keeper Manuel Riemann played a blinder and even referee Sascha Stegemann got in on the action by refusing a clear penalty, which he acknowledged after the game was a mistake.

The game was played under the lights in front of a packed and hugely partisan crowd. The Ruhrstadion was built for moments like this, and it didn’t let anyone down. If we as Dortmund fans were to be honest, this was the game where the title was lost. We got a second chance (which we blew) but failure to win this game was the turning point of the season.

Bochum are a well-liked club but small and considered to be a relegation candidate. They have survived for two seasons through their tenacity but have made the worst possible start to this campaign. By rights, Dortmund should be strong enough to win this game convincingly. But as we saw from last week, derbies can be tricky and unless the Black & Yellows improve significantly on last week’s display, it could be another difficult afternoon in the Ruhr.