Union Busters

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Borussia Dortmund 4 – 2 Union Berlin

A fantastic and eventful game was won in spectacular fashion thanks to the second-half intervention of Julian Brandt who built the foundation of probably the best 45 minutes by Dortmund so far this season.

Coach Edin Terzić managed his squad after the 0-0 draw with Milan on Wednesday by leaving Julian Brandt and Karim Adeyemi on the bench. Jamie Bynoe-Gittens started on the right side of midfield. There were also starts for Felix Nmecha in Midfield and Marius Wolf at right back, replacing the suspended Ramy Bensebaini.

Once again Niclas Füllkrug started ahead of Sebastien Haller and further demonstrated his credentials as a goal-scorer and chaos-bringer. The German international opened the score after just seven minutes from a Marco Reus corner. His initial header was saved by Union ‘keeper Frederik Rønnow but he hurled himself at the loose ball and it found its way into the net.

Union’s equaliser also came from a corner. Dead ball specialist Christoper Trimmel found the head of Robin Gosens. The goal-bound ball had a way to travel before finding the net but was helped on its way by a deflection off the head of Füllkrug.

But that was not the end of Füllkrug’s header shenanigans.

Minutes later, Alex Král’s fantastic header from Trimmel’s free-kick was ruled offside by the narrowest of margins. To make matters worse, Král picked up a knock and was substituted while VAR was still deliberating.

Minutes after that, Reus thought he had scored directly from a free kick but in fact, the ball had glanced off Füllkrug’s head before flying into the net. The striker tried to claim the goal and maybe wished he hadn’t. After another lengthy VAR examination, Füllkrug was found to be offside and the scoreboard was reset back to 1-1.

To cap off an eventful first half-hour of the match, Hummels was judged, again by VAR, to have fouled Sheraldo Becker in the penalty area and Leonardo Bonucci converted the spot kick.

The remainder of the first half was for the most part an attritional battle over who could commit the most misplaced passes. Presumably, the players were catching their breath after three goals and three VAR incidents.

The second half was another matter as Dortmund pretty much took control, scoring three unanswered goals.

Brandt was brought on at half-time for Jamie Bynoe-Gittens. The Englishman who has just extended his contract to 2028, hugged the touchline in the first half, partly in a duel with Trimmel. But with Dortmund chasing the game Brandt used more of the pitch to worry the Union defensive block.

The extra pressure told after only three minutes into the second half when former Union player Nico Schlotterbeck cracked home a shot from 25 yards to level the score. It was not a goal normally associated with a centre half and Schlotterbeck celebrated accordingly.

Five minutes later, Dortmund completed the comeback with a fantastic transition from defense to goal in two passes. Reus charged through a largely open field and laid the ball off for Brandt to score with a crisp finish from the right. It was a thrilling counter-attacking goal and a joy to watch Reus in full flight.

It is likely that Union over-committed themselves to finding an equalizer. But it’s difficult to ignore the impact that Brandt had on the game in the few short minutes he had been on the field.

The final goal came on 71 minutes. Julian Ryerson with is second in two league games: a sweet volley against the club for whom he played for five years. Unsurprisingly he chose not to celebrate but it was a wonderful strike worthy of an emotional response. Ryerson is becoming an essential component in the Dortmund team.

Deep into injury time, Haller had a goal ruled out for handball which was sad for the player but by then the game was over as a contest.

For all the criticism of Borussia Dortmund’s performances this season, Die Schwarzgelben have four successive league wins and are 15 games unbeaten. They sit fourth in the table, only two points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. Critics are probably right to argue that sooner or later these performances will catch up with them, especially when they come up against Bayern and Leverkusen. But at this moment there can be few doubts about the team's mentality.

One injury note. Mats Hummels was pulled off in the second half and later emerged from the treatment room with an icepack on his thigh. The veteran centre-half has been recalled to the German national team so it will be interesting to see if he travels to the US, with the squad this weekend after all.

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga

· Leverkusen look like the real deal and are the best team to watch in the Bundesliga as they dismantled FC Koln, 3-0 in the derby.

· FC Bayern kept pace with a straightforward 3-0 win against SC Freiburg.

· Serhou Guirassy is at it again. A hattrick against Wolfsburg for Stuttgart. That’s 13 goals in seven matches. A Bundesliga record.

· Seek out Tim Skarke’s opening goal in Darmstadt’s 2-1 win at Augsburg. A rare assist from the woodwork.

· Hoffenheim grabbed a late winner at Werder in a 3-2 thriller.

· Frankfurt finally found a win. 2-0 at home to Heidenheim.

· Mainz doubled their points tally with a 2-2 draw at Borussia Mönchengladbach.

· And Leipzig could only manage a 0-0 draw with Bochum.

Up next – Werder Bremen

After the international break, Dortmund travel to Werder who have struggled defensively, conceding nine in the last three games. Niclas Füllkrug will be hoping to practice his non-celebration against his former club where he has enjoyed such good times until his transfer on deadline day in August.

The Dortmund Dispatch will return after the international break.