Dortmund down Bayer Leverkusen in Bundesliga

BERLIN, Jan - Borussia Dortmund secured its third consecutive win after taking a 2-0 away victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the final match of the 18th round on Sunday, also ending Bayer Leverkusen's five-game winning run.

The Werkself assumed control from the kick-off and came close in the early stages, as Nadiem Amiri rattled the side net in the sixth minute before Moussa Diaby forced Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel into action ten minutes later.

Dortmund needed some time but opened the scoring with 33 minutes gone as Julian Brandt's cutback pass found Karim Adeyemi, who marked his first-ever Bundesliga goal from the central position of the box.

The "BVB" defended well with their narrow lead behind and kept the offensively minded hosts at bay for the remainder of the first half.

Leverkusen took the reins again but couldn't restore parity after the restart, as Kobel was on guard again to deny Diaby and Amine Adli in quick succession three minutes into the second half.

Things went from bad to worse moments later for Leverkusen. Edmond Tapsoba cleared a square pass from Dortmund's Marius Wolf into the wrong goal to make it 2-0 for the visitors in the 53rd minute.

Leverkusen remained unimpressed and pushed forward, but Kobel was invincible as neither Adli nor Diaby was able to overcome the Dortmund goalkeeper from promising positions.

"I like the way we performed today but also that we have secured nine points from three games in 2023. We had some problems in the opening stages, but we made some adjustments and controlled the proceedings," said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic.

"We had opportunities and should have scored at least one goal. I think the first 20 minutes were fine. We controlled possession from the start, but Dortmund defended well and broke the deadlock through a mistake from us. We must focus on our next challenges," commented Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso.

Elsewhere, relegation-threatened Schalke shared the spoils with Cologne following a goalless draw.