Dortmund 3:2 Werder Bremen: Substitutes Win It For Dortmund

And breathe.

In what was probably the most exciting match of the season in the Westfalenstadion, a five goal second half saw Dortmund beat Bremen by a score of 3-2. The game wasn't always as exciting as the last 20 minutes was, as the first half left a lot to be desired from both teams.

Thomas Tuchel's line-up surprised most people, which included Matthias Ginter starting at center back for the first time since August. After announcing that Neven Subotic would miss the rest of the season with thrombosis in his arm, Tuchel said the plan with Ginter wouldn't change, meaning he'd stay in midfield. However, Sokratis came down with a stomach intestinal infection and Hummels needed some rest, which forced Tuchel's hand. Sven Bender also returned to the line-up after missing a few weeks with a knee injury.

In the first half, Dortmund had a decent amount of chances, but most all of them fell to Erik Durm. Each time, Durm failed to score or provide a good ball for a teammate in a better position. He's looked good since returning to the team in January, but made lots of questionable decisions today, which Jogi Low probably won't look at too favorably.

You could tell Dortmund were desperately missing Ilkay Gundogan and Mats Hummels in their build-up play, which isn't the most encouraging sign if we are to lose both of those players this summer. Durm was off his game, and Shinji Kagawa or Christian Pulisic should've came on earlier than they did.

The scoring was opened by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, scoring his 23rd league goal, now two behind Lewandowski. It came relatively out of nowhere. Bremen gave the ball away around the halfway line, Reus passed it to Mkhitaryan, who provided Aubameyang with the perfect pass. Wiedwald was looking good today, but Aubameyang took him out of the equation with a beautiful chip over the goalkeeper.

Dortmund seemed content to just sit back and let this finish 1-0, but the goal woke Bremen up. They got their equalizer off a corner, as the ball fell to Galvez, who fired it towards goal. It took a big deflection off Castro to go in, and went down as an own goal. Five minutes later, Bremen caught Dortmund out, Bender got no ball on a challenge, and Junuzovic was able to slot it home.

However, Dortmund were quick to respond. Shinji Kagawa had just been brought on before the second goal, and three minutes later, Marcel Schmelzer flashed a cross through the area, and Kagawa tapped it home. Dortmund applied all out pressure and brought on Adrian Ramos and Christian Pulisic. The winner came in the 82nd minute, when Mkhitaryan's corner was headed home by Adrian Ramos. It was another important goal for the Colombian, who leads the Bundesliga with the best minutes per goal and assist ratio, which is at 46 minutes.

Dortmund were able to see the game out, but not without some scares. Dortmund kept pushing for a fourth goal and it nearly cost them on two occasions, but they were able to hold on. The three points keep Dortmund alive in the title race, still five points behind Bayern, who were 1-0 winners today.