Borussia Dortmund survived a scare away to bottom club Greuther Furth, as a brace from Julian Brandt helped them claim a 3-1 win. The Black and Yellows were far from their best, but managed to take the lead midway through the first half, with Brandt firing home from close range.
Brandt put the visitors in front, scoring on the rebound after Fuerth keeper Andreas Linde had blocked a shot from Raphael Guerreiro. The Germany international then struck again for a personal-best ninth time in the league in the 72nd, charging into the box to fire Dortmund back in front only two minutes after the hosts had equalised.
Dortmund made sure of the three points with substitute Felix Passlack’s deflected effort in the 77th to move up to 66 points.
Bayern Munich are top on 75 points and have already secured their 10th straight league crown. They play VfB Stuttgart on Sunday. Bayer Leverkusen are third on 61.
It was not the most clinical game for Dortmund, who had difficulties establishing their dominance at the start. Furth even launched a few dangerous counter-attacks, with Branimir Hrgota notably finding the back of the net around the first quarter mark, though it was ruled out due to offside.
Fortunately for the visiting side, Brandt was at the top of his game, as he capitalised on a cross from Nico Schulz to fire the second goal and restore his side’s advantage in the 72nd minute before Felix Passlack eventually killed the tie with his deflected effort that deceived Andreas Linde in between the sticks.
Julian Brandt was the undisputed man of the match in this win over Furth. The German international looked in brilliant touch. He was smooth with the ball at his feet and linked up exceptionally well with his teammates in the final third. Most importantly, he made full use of his goalscoring opportunities to bag a brace that will go a long way in helping him find a suitor in the upcoming summer transfer window.
Felix Passlack scored the all-important late goal that helped Dortmund seal the tie. Apart from the goal, he didn’t make much of an impression with his performance on the night.
Dortmund are Bundesliga runners-up for the eighth time. Brandt has a career best-equalling nine Bundesliga goals for the season, including a team-leading seven on the road.
Dortmund have only ever scored more goals at this stage of a season once. They currently have 83 goals from 33 matches, one shy of the tally they had in 2019/20 when they set a club record of 84 goals for a single campaign.
