Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Bayern Munich: 5 Talking Points

Robert Lewandowski’s first half goal on his return to Dortmund was enough to send Bayern 10 points clear at the top of the table. The home side started the game brightly, but were unable to make their aggression count for a goal.Instead, it was the returning striker, who scored with a perfectly-timed header to secure Bayern’s 10th away win of the season, that got the only goal of the game. The result also leaves Dortmund, 15 points behind Bayer Leverkusen, who hold the final Champions League spot and five points behind Augsburg, who hold the final European place. Here are the major talking points from the game:

#1 Dortmund\'s season encapsulated in 90 minutes

If you hadn't seen Dortmund play so far this season and wanted to know why they are in the bottom half of the league, then the game against Bayern highlighted it perfectly. For it was a microcosm of how things had panned out for them over the season. It was a case of a bright start, not scoring a goal when they were on top, missing crucial chances and in the end being carved open by a mistake at a critical juncture in the game.

Against a Bayern side who were reeling from their first home defeat of the season, Dortmund started well, pressed the visitors high up the pitch and stopped them from playing in the opening quarter of the game. But from then onwards, it was all downhill. A mistake from their best defender, Mats Hummels cost them the opening goal, their best attacker, Marco Reus missed a golden opportunity to level the game and that was the difference in an otherwise tight game.