DORTMUND: Substitute Mario Goetze led Borussia Dortmund to a 2-1 win over Borussia Moenchen­gladbach on Friday to help his side bounce back from their first league loss in midweek and restore a nine-point lead at the top of the table over the second-placed visiting side going into the winter break.

Goetze, who came on for the injured Paco Alcacer in the first half, set up Jadon Sancho’s outstanding deadlock-breaking goal in the 42nd minute, then made Marco Reus’ winner in the 54th after Christoph Kramer equalised in first-half injury time as Dortmund, who were stunned 2-1 by promoted Fortuna Duesseldorf on Tuesday, won the top-of-the-table battle and move to 42 points from 17 games.

Dortmund captain Reus admitted they showed some signs of tiredness following three league games in the last six days, including the shock defeat at strugglers Duesseldorf.

“You could see in the last 20 minutes that we were on our knees,” admitted match-winner Reus. “A few weeks break will do us good so that we can attack again in the new year — the job is half done. Obviously everyone wants to win the title. That’s why we play football. I am proud of the team because we gave it all we got, every little bit, and we got the result we wanted.”

Gladbach are second on 33 points, level on points with reigning champions Bayern Munich who have a chance to cut the gap to six points by winning their game in hand over the top two.

“We deserved to win. We had more ball possession. There was good movement from the team,” Dortmund coach Lucien Favre said after facing his former side.

Favre, in a stint from 2011-15, led Gladbach from Bundesliga survival to the Champions League.

Dortmund got off to a furious start with Reus and Alcacer, who have 23 league goals between them, posing a constant threat.

Reus had the best chance when a lightning quick passing move left the Gladbach defence completely exposed, but his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

Bundesliga leading scorer Alcacer had to be taken off injured after half an hour with a suspected thigh muscle injury.

His replacement Goetze then set up England international Sancho to score from the tightest of angles after another quick Dortmund break. The 18-year-old, who has three England caps, has now scored six goals and set up another seven in a sparkling season so far.

But Kramer equalised minutes later amid controversy. TV replays showed the ball hit his hand after his initial header before he fired the ball inside the net. It was checked by the video assistant referee in Cologne and the goal stood.

Goetze, who endured a difficult start to the season under Favre, proved the hero when he fired the ball in for Reus to guide inside the far post almost 10 minutes into the second half.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2018