Dortmund holds on with 10 men for 1st away win in Bundesliga

Dortmund's Emre Can, left, and Wolfsburg's Jonas Wind fight for the ball during the Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund, in Wolfsburg, Germany, Sunday Dec. 22, 2024. (AP)

• Dortmund climbed to sixth ahead of the league’s winter break, but it’s not where the club aspires to be after a shaky start to the league

BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund held on after Pascal Groß’ sending off to beat Wolfsburg 3-1 for its first Bundesliga away win of the season on Sunday.
Donyell Malen got the visitors off the mark with a volley to a corner in the 25th, three minutes before Julian Brandt played in Maximilian Beier to score Dortmund’s second goal. Beier, who scored with the outside of his boot in off the left post, celebrated with a throwing-dart gesture.
Beier returned the favor for Brandt to score Dortmund’s third two minutes after that.
Despite the commanding lead, the visitors were second-best for long periods thereafter as Wolfsburg improved dramatically.
Coach Ralph Hasenhüttl made two changes at the break, including sending on Lukas Nmecha to face his brother Felix Nmecha, who was playing for Dortmund.
Denis Vavro pulled one back in the 58th, four minutes before Groß was sent off for a foul on Lukas Nmecha when the Wolfsburg forward was through on goal.
The home team pushed hard but Dortmund managed to hold on to ease the pressure on coach Nuri Sahin.
“A 3-0 lead should mean you can get through the game with confidence,” said Brandt, who complained about his team’s drop in performance. “We’re to blame for that. It’s not good, we need to play more confidently, we need to grow up.”
Dortmund climbed to sixth ahead of the league’s winter break, but it’s not where the club aspires to be after a shaky start to the league.
“We’ll try a reset and to play better in the new year,” Beier said. “It can’t be our goal to be sixth.”
Bochum celebrates
Bottom club Bochum defeated relegation rival Heidenheim 2-0 for its first win of the season.
“When we play like we did today it means there are lots of possibilities for the next 19 games,” said Bochum coach Dieter Hecking. “From that point of view I’m also glad we won because I couldn’t have handled many more games without a win.”
It was the visitors’ seventh straight Bundesliga defeat, the culmination of a busy schedule after clinching European qualification from its league debut last season and the offseason loss of star players like Jan-Niklas Beste, Tim Kleindienst and Eren Dinkci.
“We’re at the end of another ‘English week’ (with midweek games) again,” Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt said. “Everyone did their best, but we have to be honest – it wasn’t enough.”