An extraordinary own goal from Germany international Christoph Kramer gave Borussia Dortmund the win they needed to move off the foot of the Bundesliga as well as end Borussia Monchengladbach’s unbeaten start to the season.
The World Cup winner inadvertently lofted an attempted pass back over his own goalkeeper Yann Sommer from 40 yards out as dominant Dortmund finally made the breakthrough they had been desperate for just before the hour-mark.
It was a welcome and unexpected favour for the Westphalians, who climbed out of the bottom three with the 1-0 victory which ends a five-game losing streak in the Bundesliga.
Gladbach came into the game without having lost in 18 competitive games this season, but Dortmund, who had lost seven in the Bundesliga alone, showed more hunger for victory.
It was one-way traffic towards Sommer’s goal with Marco Reus twice testing the Swiss goalkeeper, who produced an excellent fingertip save to push the ball onto the post.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Lukasz Piszczek also missed chances while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had his fair share of opportunities – and misses – as Dortmund sent in a total of 15 goals on Sommer’s goal.
At the other end, Roman Weidenfeller was merely a spectator with the Foals not troubling him once.
However, for all their efforts, Dortmund were unable to find a goal – until they got a helping hand from the most unexpected of sources.
What was meant to be a pass back along the ground to Sommer became a lob as Kramer got his foot under the ball, leaving his goalkeeper no chance of recovering as the ball nestled in the back of the net.
