Borussia Dortmund players exchange high-fives. © APA/afp / UWE KRAFT

Dortmund wins the Borussia duel

Borussia Dortmund won the heated West derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach without much flair and, at least for the time being, sits in second place in the table.

19 December 2025

From: dpa

Niko Kovac's team defeated the Lower Rhine side 2-0 (1-0) on Dortmund's 116th anniversary, even without any major highlights in their play. The victory should ease the previously tense situation at BVB just in time for Christmas. Dortmund had only won three of their previous nine competitive matches. However, critics of the team's playing style are unlikely to be silenced.

In front of 81.365 spectators at their home stadium, Julian Brandt scored the opening goal for the Ruhr club in the 10th minute. Maximilian Beier (90+7) sealed the victory in stoppage time. Gladbach, on the other hand, offered little threat in attack. Coach Eugen Polanski's team will spend the winter break in mid-table with 16 points. For Dortmund, 32 points after 15 games is their best tally in seven years. However, the gap to league leaders FC Bayern Munich could widen again to nine points on Sunday.

Dortmund shocks Gladbach with early goal

Kovac made five changes to his starting lineup compared to the 1-1 draw in Freiburg last Sunday – partly due to personnel issues. Brandt and Niklas Süle, among others, were brought into the starting eleven. This quickly paid off. The two combined to give Dortmund an early lead. Süle crossed from the right to the far post, where Brandt volleyed home a spectacular goal with their first real chance to make it 1-0.

Dortmund didn't exactly shine after that, but despite some surprising passivity, they kept the action away from their own goal for a long time. This was also due to the visitors' failure to capitalize on promising counter-attacking opportunities.

Julian Brandt scored the opening goal. © APA/afp / UWE KRAFT

Gladbach showed effort, but their play was far too imprecise to trouble Kovac's team. Had Gladbach's goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas not made a brilliant save from a huge chance by Karim Adeyemi, it would have been 2-0 after half an hour. Dortmund's goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was on hand to deny Rocco Reitz when Gladbach had their first scoring opportunity just before halftime. Shortly after the restart, the BVB fans thought they had sealed the victory. However, a header from Guirassy was disallowed due to the 29-year-old being offside in the build-up.

Kobel prevents equalization

The match became more hectic. Referee Jablonski showed yellow cards and was repeatedly drawn into arguments with the players. Adeyemi became extremely agitated after being substituted and had to be calmed down by BVB sporting director Sebastian Kehl.

Kobel was a reliable presence in goal. © APA/afp / UWE KRAFT

On the pitch, Gladbach tried hard, but continued to make too many poor decisions in the opposition's half. Dortmund missed the chance to calm their fans' nerves with another goal. Wael Mohya, who had just come on as a substitute, narrowly missed the equalizer almost out of nowhere. The 16-year-old was denied by Kobel. Thus, Dortmund held onto their narrow lead until the final whistle.

Dortmund- Gladbach 2:0

Goals: 1:0 Brandt (10th), 2:0 Beier (90+7th)