Dortmund 1-0 Frankfurt: Substitute Beier sends BVB top of Bundesliga

Substitute Maximilian Beier curled in the only goal ten minutes from time as Borussia Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 at a sold-out Signal Iduna Park on Saturday to go top of the Bundesliga. Fellow replacement Jobe Bellingham set up the winner, which gave Niko Kovač's side their first league win since Matchday 4 and moved them three points clear of Bayern Munich, who visit Freiburg on Sunday.

Match facts

• Result: Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Eintracht Frankfurt (half-time 0-0)
• Competition: Bundesliga, Matchday 7
• Venue: Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund (attendance 81,365)
• Scorers: Dortmund - Beier 80'; Frankfurt - none
• Assists: Dortmund - Bellingham (80')
• Red cards: None
• Next: Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen and Hamburger SV v Eintracht Frankfurt (DFB-Pokal second round), Tuesday 27 October; Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga), Saturday 31 October, 17:30 UK

How the match unfolded

Kovač made one change from the midweek Champions League win at Sabah, bringing in Marcel Sabitzer for Carney Chukwuemeka, while Frankfurt captain Robin Koch made his 100th Bundesliga appearance for the club in the 17:30 UK kick-off.

Frankfurt threatened first. In the third minute Nnamdi Collins got a shot away from the right of the box, but Ramy Bensebaini blocked it. Dortmund then took control, and Noah Atubolu saved low from Serhou Guirassy's shot from the edge of the area in the 15th minute before denying the striker again from close range moments later.

Adi Hütter's side had the better chances before the break. Jonathan Burkardt dragged a low left-footed shot just wide in the 27th minute, and soon after the half-hour Gregor Kobel came off his line to block Younes Ebnoutalib's effort after a mistake by Felix Nmecha.

Kobel was needed again in the first minute of the second half, tipping over a swerving shot from Farès Chaïbi. Dortmund hit the woodwork in the 53rd minute, when Guirassy headed Joey Veerman's corner against the crossbar. Collins and Chaïbi were booked for fouls in the 58th and 63rd minutes.

Kovač changed the game in the 68th minute with a triple substitution, sending on Beier, Ethan Nwaneri and Chukwuemeka for Daniel Svensson, Fábio Silva and Sabitzer. Nwaneri forced Atubolu into a save almost immediately. Hütter replaced Burkardt and Ebnoutalib with Ansgar Knauff and Can Uzun in the 77th minute, and Bellingham came on for Nmecha two minutes later.

A minute after his introduction, Bellingham collected the ball on the right and cut it back to Beier, who curled a right-footed shot from outside the box into the top corner. Frankfurt sent on Mario Götze against his former club, along with Love Arrhov and Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab, but Dortmund saw out three minutes of stoppage time without alarm.

What it means

Dortmund have 17 points from seven games and remain unbeaten in the league, with five wins and two draws. The result ends a run of two league draws, against Werder Bremen and Union Berlin, and repeats the combination that won their last league game: Beier also scored from a Bellingham cross in the 1-0 win at Stuttgart on Matchday 4. Kobel kept his second successive Bundesliga clean sheet.

Frankfurt, who had won 1-0 at home to Köln last weekend, ending their home drought, drop to 13th on eight points after a third league defeat of the season.

What's next

Both clubs are back in action on Tuesday in the DFB-Pokal second round: Dortmund host Werder Bremen (19:45 UK) and Frankfurt visit Hamburger SV (17:00 UK). Next weekend Dortmund travel to Bayern for Der Klassiker, and Frankfurt host Hamburg on Sunday 1 November (16:30 UK). Matchday 7 began on Friday with Borussia Mönchengladbach's first win of the season at Stuttgart.

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