This may well have been the first Der Klassiker since 2007 played without either side having any real stake in the Bundesliga title race, but Dortmund didn’t let that take away from the occasion as they shot into the lead inside 10 minutes.
Julian Brandt took advantage of a rapid one-touch move to send Karim Adeyemi away down the left, and the hosts failed to deal with the winger’s abundant pace as he squeezed it through Sven Ulreich and inside the far post.#
The play that followed was distinctly end-to-end, and Harry Kane uncharacteristically nodded wide after it was put on a plate by Joshua Kimmich.
As Bayern seized more control, it became clear that the visiting defenders were up for the fight, particularly Mats Hummels, who made block after chance-saving block. The zenith of those was his incredible denial of Eric Dier’s header, plucking it off the line with an airborne boot.
Dortmund were clinging onto the advantage as the half ended, but held out to record the first occasion that Bayern had trailed at the break here against Die Schwarzgelben since November 2014. That was a game the Bavarians went on to win, but as time went on, history looked increasingly unlikely to repeat itself.
Felix Nmecha almost put the result beyond doubt soon after half time, but couldn’t place his attempt far enough from Ulreich to beat Bayern’s stand-in stopper.
Hummels soon stung the gloves of Ulreich, as he looked to add a goal to his dominant performance, before sliding in at the other end to take it off the boot of Kane.
Nerves began to jangle for the visitors as the final 10 minutes arrived, but Sébastien Haller took to the pitch to play it out for Julian Ryerson to fire in a second and send the Gästeblock into pandemonium.
After the scare of a disallowed 90th-minute goal for Kane, Dortmund recorded a famous victory – a fourth successive in the league which puts them in the driving seat for UEFA Champions League qualification after RB Leipzig dropped points.
Bayer Leverkusen’s late heroics earlier in the day provided even more disappointment to Bayern, and a now 13-point gap with just seven matches to play surely spells an end to their dominance of Germany’s top flight.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund)
