Borussia Dortmund scored three goals in a devastating five-minute spell to beat Wolfsburg 3-1 and end the year in the top six of the Bundesliga. Dortmund came into this game without a win in their previous three league outings but produced some stylish attacking moments to blow Wolfsburg away on the road. Dutchman Donyell Malen got things moving, turning in Ramy Bensebaini’s corner from close range. The visitors doubled their lead through the impressive young Germany star Max Beier, who met Julian Brandt‘s through ball with a sublime first-time finish with the outside of his right foot. 

Beier turned provider just two minutes later, cutting back a low cross for an unmarked Brandt to find the bottom corner. 

Wolfsburg were stunned, having conceded in the 25th, 28th and 30th minutes and the rest of the contest was a damage limitation exercise for Ralph Hasenhuettl’s side, although they pulled one back in the second half through Denis Vavro. 

Dortmund had Pascal Gross sent off just after the hour but it didn’t threaten to derail a win that keeps them within two points of third place. 

“In the first half we played really well, had very good positional play and kept moving forward with determination,” said Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin.

“In the second half we allowed the opponent back into the game completely unnecessarily and you have to defend. Then you get a red card, which is totally unnecessary.”

On a good weekend for the teams from Germany’s Ruhr region, Bochum beat relegation rivals Heidenheim 2-0 for their first victory of the Bundesliga season. 

Rooted in last place in the table, Bochum took an early lead courtesy of striker Moritz Broschinski, whose expert low volley was reward for Ibrahima Sissoko’s quality cross from the right.  

Bochum, who brought in veteran coach Dieter Hecking last month in the hope of igniting their season and saving them from relegation, appeared the hungrier of the sides.  

When the second goal came, it was no less than Bochum deserved.  

Matus Bero created space on the edge of the box and drilled in from 15 yards, putting the hosts in complete control before the break.  

Heidenheim improved after the restart but the damage was already done and Bochum, who had lost 11 of their previous 14 games, closed it out for a precious three points.  

Bochum stay bottom going into the winter break but end the calendar year having picked up four points from their last two games and stay within two points of Holstein Kiel, who are directly above them in 17th.  

Meanwhile, 16th-placed Heidenheim are in freefall.  

Last season, their first in the Bundesliga, was a huge success, finishing eighth and qualifying for Europe.  

But they are now coming to terms with their seventh-straight Bundesliga defeat and sit just two points ahead of Kiel.

Borussia Dortmund have been eliminated from the German Cup in the second round with a 1-0 extra-time loss at Wolfsburg on Tuesday, deepening the struggling club’s woes. Scoreless after 90 minutes, the match looked set for penalties before Jonas Wind tapped in from close range in the 117th minute. Dortmund and new coach Nuri Sahin came into the match under pressure, last season’s Champions League finalists sitting seven points off top spot in the league after just eight games.

Dortmund had lost their last four matches away from home in all competitions but had the best of the opening half, Maximilian Beier hitting the post with just the goalkeeper to beat.

The visitors dominated possession but lacked fluency in attack and failed to break through and looked to have set their sights on penalties as extra time ran down.

Wind however scored for the hosts with three minutes remaining, heaping more pressure on Sahin and his struggling side.

“Extremely bitter to concede a goal like that after 120 minutes. It’s tough,” said Dortmund’s Pascal Gross.

“We’ve got injury problems, but that’s no excuse — we had chances to score.”

Stuttgart won 2-1 at home to eliminate last year’s finalists Kaiserslautern thanks to goals from Nick Woltemade and Chris Fuehrich.

Woltemade put Stuttgart in front after 14 minutes but Kaiserslautern levelled things up from the spot through Boris Tomiak late in the first half. 

Ermedin Demirovic, who laid on the opener, was the provider again, setting up Fuehrich as Stuttgart re-took the lead with 15 minutes remaining.

Earlier on Tuesday, a brace from Patrik Schick put German Cup holders Bayer Leverkusen on course for a 3-0 victory over Elversberg.

Leverkusen burst out of the blocks, Schick scoring twice in the opening 10 minutes. Aleix Garcia added a third with a stunning free-kick on the 36-minute mark.

Elversberg beat Leverkusen in the first round of the 2022-23 German Cup, making them the last team to beat the current holders in the competition.

Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso praised the “intelligent” Schick and said: “What’s most important is that we made it to the next round.”

RB Leipzig, who won back-to-back German Cups before Leverkusen’s triumph, beat St Pauli 4-2 at home, with Yussuf Poulsen scoring a brace.

The hosts were 2-0 up after 17 minutes thanks to goals from Poulsen and Christoph Baumgartner. Morgan Guilavogui grabbed one back on 28 minutes but Poulsen added another two minutes later. 

St Pauli’s Swedish defender Eric Smith scored early in the second half but Norwegian forward Antonio Nusa put the match to bed with a classy solo goal with 10 minutes remaining.

Elsewhere, goals for Alexis Claude-Maurice, Arne Maier and Samuel Essende took Augsburg past five-time champions Schalke with a 3-0 win.

Karlsruhe beat Kickers Offenbach 2-0, Cologne beat Holstein Kiel and Regensburg eliminated Greuther Fuerth.

On Wednesday, 20-time champions Bayern Munich travel to Mainz while Eintracht Frankfurt host Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Victor Boniface struck a stoppage-time winner to give Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen a thrilling 4-3 win over Wolfsburg on Sunday, while Borussia Dortmund were outclassed in a 5-1 hammering at Stuttgart. In a seesaw encounter, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg were locked at 3-3 from the 48th minute. Wolfsburg were then reduced to 10 men in the dying stages when Yannick Gerhardt sunk his studs into Jeremie Frimpong’s calf. Boniface, who came on with 22 minutes remaining, collected a pass before pivoting on the spot and shooting home to snatch the German champions another late victory, providing a perfect boost ahead of next week’s trip to Bayern Munich.

Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka was far from pleased with the win, calling the result “a giant wake-up call — none of us can be satisfied with the game today.

“We can’t keep going with performances like that. We can’t defend so naively. Sure, we scored four but we can’t do that every weekend.”

Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso had named a heavily changed line-up from the side which thrashed Feyenoord 4-0 in the Champions League on Thursday, giving Nordi Mukiele his starting debut. 

However, Mukiele, signed on loan from French champions PSG, endured a nightmare start when he allowed the ball to bounce in off his thigh for a fifth-minute own goal. 

Florian Wirtz, who scored a brace on his Champions League debut on Thursday, drew Leverkusen level with a superb effort from outside the box shortly after. 

Jonathan Tah headed the hosts ahead from a corner after 32 minutes but Leverkusen’s joy was short-lived, with Wolfsburg’s Sebastiaan Bornauw equalising five minutes later, jumping above Mukiele to head in from close range. 

Mattias Svanberg scored from the edge of the box on the counter for Wolfsburg before Leverkusen levelled again on 48 minutes through Piero Hincapie. 

In breaking through for their debut Bundesliga title last season without losing a match Leverkusen dropped just 12 points but they appeared on course for a second setback after losing to RB Leipzig in their last home game.

Boniface had other ideas and sliced the ball home in the third minute of injury time to keep Leverkusen three points behind league leaders Bayern, ahead of next week’s clash in Munich. 

In Sunday’s late game, RB Leipzig were held to a 0-0 stalemate at promoted St Pauli, their second straight scoreless draw. 

St Pauli had the better of the opening period with several good chances but Leipzig ‘keeper Peter Gulacsi kept them at bay. 

Leipzig improved in the second half, but the hosts held on to claim their first point of the season. 

Stuttgart soar, Dortmund disappoint

Days after going down 3-1 at Real Madrid in the Champions League, Stuttgart dominated a disappointing Dortmund at home thanks to a brace from Deniz Undav and goals from Ermedin Demirovic, Enzo Millot and El Bilal Toure. 

Dortmund had raided last season’s surprise runners-up Stuttgart in the summer, signing captain Waldemar Anton and striker Serhou Guirassy who had scored 28 goals in 28 league games.

Champions League finalists in June, Dortmund came into the match yet to lose this season but were 2-0 down in 21 minutes. 

Undav cut in on the break just four minutes in and Demirovic — Guirassy’s replacement up front — headed in a second on the 21-minute mark.

Millot, who like Undav upgraded his loan deal to a permanent move in the summer, tapped in after a corner to put Stuttgart in control. 

Guirassy pulled a goal back with 15 minutes remaining, but Stuttgart scored twice in the closing stages through Bilal Toure and Undav to top off a dominant victory.

“We showed a reaction to the Real Madrid game and I’m happy,” Undav told DAZN. 

Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin, handed the first defeat of his short reign, said Stuttgart’s win was “absolutely deserved from the first until the last minute,” adding “I’m certain we’ll play differently on Friday (at home against Bochum) because I can’t accept that (performance)”.

Harry Kane helped drag Bayern Munich to a come-from-behind 3-2 win at Wolfsburg on Sunday in new manager Vincent Kompany‘s Bundesliga debut. Jamal Musiala put Bayern 1-0 up after 19 minutes but Wolfsburg took the lead with two Lovro Majer goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Bayern were nervy, with Ralph Hasenhuettl’s side pouncing on several defensive errors. A Kane header forced Wolfsburg’s Jakub Kaminski into an own goal after 65 minutes and the England captain set up Bayern’s third, laying on a pass for Serge Gnabry‘s 82nd-minute strike.

“It’s not perfect yet”, Kane told Bayern TV after the match, saying his side “got punished a little” in the second-half.

“We’re still obviously implementing some of the ideas of the coach.

“Obviously, the team is a lot stronger than this. I’m happy we’ve got a good week to work now, to get to work on the ideas the coach wants.”

Bayern midfielder Joshua Kimmich echoed Kane’s sentiments on network DAZN, saying “we lost control of the game due to many mistakes”, adding they “reacted well” when they fell 2-1 behind.

With 20 minutes gone, Kane, starting his first match since the Euro 2024 final in Berlin, found Sacha Boey on the right flank. 

The French defender dribbled past two Wolfsburg defenders and cut the ball across for Musiala, who tapped home to open the scoring. 

Musiala has six goals in eight games against Wolfsburg, more than any other side. 

Cool Majer

Wolfsburg were lucky to get away with what appeared to be a handball in the box 10 minutes later, with Kane shown a yellow card for remonstrating with the referee. 

Bystanders in the first-half, Wolfsburg burst into life early in the second, grabbing the lead inside the first 10 minutes.

Boey, who was making just his second start for Bayern since joining in January, went from hero to villain just a minute after the break, bringing down Tiago Tomas in the box.

Majer coolly slotted home, sending Manuel Neuer the wrong way.

The Croatia midfielder hit the post with Neuer flatfooted just a minute later but did not need to wait long for another opportunity, his 55th-minute goal putting Wolfsburg in front. 

Patrick Wimmer pressed Kim Min-jae into a mistake, collected possession and advanced on goal, drawing Neuer and laying off for Majer to score. 

Kane was crucial in helping Bayern draw level after 65 minutes. The England captain headed a deflected Joshua Kimmich cross goalwards and the ball bounced in off Wolfsburg’s Kaminski.

Kane created Bayern’s winner with eight minutes remaining, finding Gnabry who booted home from close range.

Bundesliga winners in 2009, Wolfsburg have not beaten Bayern since 2015, a run of 21 matches.

Later on Sunday, promoted St Pauli host Heidenheim in the final match of the round.