MOTM Poll: Borussia Dortmund Kick off the Weekend with Hard-Fought 1-0 Win Against Hoffenheim

Borussia Dortmund temporarily put themselves in first place in the Bundesliga this evening, with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Hoffenheim. After a strong first half that probably should have saw BVB go up by more than a single goal, Hoffenheim came back stronger in the second half and made it a competitive game right to the end.

It wasn’t the perfect performance, and things are still a little disjointed offensively, but Hoffenheim are a tough side and BVB deserved the win. A win with some stretches of genuinely good football, plus a second clean sheet in as many games, and a short stint at the top of the table. That felt like a game Dortmund fans can be relatively pleased about.

Here’s the nominations for tonight’s Man of the Match:

Marco Reus

Reus’s goal gave BVB the lead, but his efforts out of possession are what gave them all three points. Dortmund’s captain never stopped working, and when things were clicking in the first half he was an integral part of that offensive fluidity.

Nico Schlotterbeck

He’s relentless. He has been nominated for Man of the Match in all but one game so far this season (and he was still pretty solid in that game too). There’s going to come a point where Schlotterbeck’s consistently world-class performances become the minimum we expect from him, and then he might start getting underappreciated in the MOTM nominations, but that day is not day. Schlotterbeck is very, very good.

Julian Brandt

This was the best I’ve seen Julian Brandt perform in a long time. He contributed an assist, plus a couple other chances on top of that, and he put in a good shift defensively. Brandt often serves up some good with some bad, but today he didn’t have any silly or frustrating moments. He was just good. Lets hope we see some more of this version of the German midfielder!

Jude Bellingham

Bellingham had a hand (though not a touch) in the goal, fought hard throughout the game, and kept up his trademark intensity late in the game despite looking pretty gassed. There were a number of other performances that could have warranted a nomination as well (Ozcan, Hummels, Wolf), but in the end I stuck with Jude because of his contribution to the goal.

Cast your vote below and let us know who else you thought deserved a nomination!