The China Mail - Dortmund beat Hoffenheim to cement third spot

Dortmund won thanks to goals either side of half-time from Julian Brandt and Nico Schlotterbeck.

The victory helped third-placed Dortmund open up a five-point gap over Leverkusen in fourth.

Dortmund sit a point behind second-placed RB Leipzig but are already nine points behind runway league leaders Bayern Munich with 13 games played.

Caught in the relegation mire last season, Hoffenheim have impressed this campaign and came into the weekend in fourth.

Dortmund should have taken the lead after 20 minutes when Karim Adeyemi fed Serhou Guirassy, one-on-one with the Hoffenheim goalie Oliver Baumann but the Guinean got his feet in a knot and failed to get a shot away.

The hosts broke through just before the break when Yan Couto burst down the right and cut the ball back superbly for Brandt to tap home.

Dortmund doubled up with a half-hour remaining, Schlotterbeck guiding a shot through a crowded penalty area and past a diving Baumann.

Guirassy had a chance to put icing on the cake when put through on goal late but chipped his shot onto the crossbar.

The 29-year-old striker has only scored once in the league dating back to mid-September.

Earlier on Sunday, Yussuf Poulsen came off the bench to score an 84th-minute winner as Hamburg came from a goal down to beat Werder Bremen at home in a firey clash.

In Germany's first top-flight 'Northern Derby' since 2018, Jens Stage gave Bremen the lead before the break but Albert Lokonga levelled things up midway through the second half.

Tottenham loanee Luka Vuskovic put Hamburg in front with an incredible no-look backheel with 15 minutes remaining but Bremen's Justin Njinmah hit back three minutes later.

Poulsen came off the bench and scored two minutes later, tucking a controlled shot into the bottom corner, his first goal for the club.

The win took Hamburg four points clear of the relegation spots, with 13 of their 15 points this season coming at their Volksparkstadion fortress.

Y.Parker--ThChM