Borussia Dortmund cut it a little fine in a 2-1 victory over Augsburg, despite dominating the game and creating plenty of golden opportunities. The win took BVB up to second place, just one point behind Bayern Munich, who lost to Eintracht Frankfurt earlier today. However, they have dropped down to third thanks to Bayer Leverkusen’s 4-0 victory over Arminia Bielefeld.

It was yet another tight game that BVB should have been able to put to bed much earlier, really showing how reliant they are on Erling Haaland’s ruthless abilities in and around the penalty area. But nonetheless, a win is a win, and it’s good that Dortmund are keeping up with Bayern despite Haaland missing a couple games.

Here are our match ratings:

Starting XI

Gregor Kobel

Paul: 6

Hard to blame Kobel for the very silly goal that Augsburg scored.

Zac: 6

Mats Hummels

Paul: 6

Possibly should have closed the opponent down a little quicker for Augsburg’s goal. Thought he was otherwise solid.

Zac: 6

Hopefully Hummels is not seriously injured, but he will have the entire international break to rest and recover.

Manuel Akanji

Paul: 6

Zac: 6

Solid on the ball, decent in the air, and did well to adjust when Pongračić switched in for Hummels. I would like to see Akanji connect more headers from corners, but that’s getting very picky.

Marius Wolf

Paul: 7

Wolf is not the best player on the pitch ever, but he’s always useful. He seems willing to contribute wherever he is asked to play, and he seems capable of following what is asked of him and putting in a shift. Players like that are vitally important for a team competing on all fronts.

Zac: 7

Perfectly said, Paul. Wolf has the fighting spirit to keep his head up because he is, in fact, a native Borussen. There was no space for him when he arrived, but he perisisted, and now he has the chance to carve out a niche role for himself.

Thomas Meunier

Paul: 6

Zac: 6.5

Worked. Ran. Departed.

Axel Witsel

Paul: 6

Zac: 6

Another decent-ish game for the Belgian. Seeing Emre Can replace him was welcome, until his Can-like tendencies to shoot from 400 yards away came back.

Jude Bellingham

Paul: 7

I think Jude Bellingham is making a pretty strong case for being BVB’s best player so far this season. Even on slightly quieter days, like yesterday, he is still one of the strongest performers on the pitch. It’s also great fun watching him talk shit and embed himself deep inside the minds of every midfielder in the league. He’s a gem.

Zac: 7.5

Extra .5 for consistently making Paul so happy.

Rapha Guerreiro

Paul: 7

Zac: 7

Honorable mention for being able to play right back for the last few minutes of the game.

Marco Reus

Paul: 7

Zac: 7

Reus did well to keep the attack ticking and move the ball forward. He was only let down by some suspect finishing, but to be fair to the captain, the chances he had were from difficult angles. On another day, Reus might bag a hat-trick in this game.

Julian Brandt

Paul: 8

This must have been Julian Brandt’s best performance in a long, long time. He came off the bench for Mo Dahoud in the week, and did a solid job, but yesterday he was really good on both sides of the ball, and capped it off with a lovely goal from just outside the penalty box. If not for Reus’s slightly wonky finishing, he also would have picked up an assist.

Zac: 8

Donyell Malen

Paul: 6

Zac: 6.5

Malen was definitely playing with more confidence yesterday, after breaking his duck for the side. It was not his best performance, but he has many chances to come after the international break.

Substitutes

Thorgan Hazard

Paul: 7

Hazard looked really good when he came off the bench, and was unlucky not to score, denied by the post.

Zac: 7.5

Toto lad, please put those away. Do not get scared when the goalkeeper comes out like I do in FIFA.

Emre Can

Paul: 6

Zac: 5

STOP SHOOTING FROM SO FAR AWAY YOU ARE BAD AT IT.

Marin Pongracic

Paul: 6

Zac: 6.5

I really dig big Pongo. He did not do anything special in this game, but I dig him.

Nico Schulz

Paul: 6

Reinier

Paul: 6

Zac: 5.5

He was not on for long, but I really have to wonder how much longer this little experiment is going to drag on.

Overall

Paul: 6

This one feels like a hard game to rate the team’s overall performance. On one hand they did a good job of creating chances and they dominated much of the game, but on the other hand they left the game open to Augsburg, and they easily could have been made to pay for their wastefulness. On another day that Augsburg goal never would have ended up in the back of the net, and BVB likely would have converted at least one more of their chances. But yesterday it ends up looking like a close 2-1 victory.

Zac: 6

Dortmund have shown they cannot win resolutely without Erling Haaland, but at least they can win. That is enough for now.