DPA/Dortmund
Struggling Borussia Dortmund beat Hoffenheim 1-0 on Friday, a badly-needed breather which lifted them away from last place in the Bundesliga standings.
Germany midfielder Ilkay Guendogan headed the winner in the 17th minute off a cross by the lively Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who later had two goals disallowed for offside, the first of them wrongly.
The 2011 and 2012 champions Dortmund left last place, and the danger zone, to rank 14th with what was only their fourth win in 14 season games. Hoffenheim remain seventh with 20 points.
“We played a very good match and had unbelievable support. We talked a lot over the week and you could see that all players fought hard,” captain Mats Hummels told Sky TV. “(But) It is no real relief. We need to take more steps until the winter break and after.”
The other eight games are Saturday and Sunday, with runaway leaders Bayern Munich hosting Bayer Leverkusen. Munich can clinch the unofficial winter title with three games to spare if they win and second-placed Wolfsburg lose in Hanover.
Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp made several changes for the crucial match, most notably fielding Australian Mitchell Langerak in goal for German international Roman Weidenfeller.
Hummels returned from injury and Marcel Schmelzer was also back in the starting 11, the two forming the defence with Lukasz Piszczek and neven Subotic for the first time since the Champions League final in May 2013 they lost 2-1 against Munich.
Coming off a 2-0 defeat in Frankfurt which left them rock bottom, Dortmund attacked from the outset and were awarded in the 17th when Aubameyang’s cross sailed over goalkeeper Frank Baumann and found Guendogan for a diving header into the net at the far left side of goal.
But Dortmund were also wasteful again, and lucky not to concede seconds after the restart when Hummels ran back from the defensive wall to head Sebastian Rudy’s free-kick out of danger, with Langerak well beaten.
Aubameyang was wrongly ruled offside when he headed home off a corner kick in the 52nd, had another chance saved by Baumann in the 61st before he was correctly adjudged to be offside when he found the net again in the 72nd.
Dortmund hung on to win in front of their devoted 80,000 fans who celebrated with Klopp and the players long after the final whistle.
“The team could give something back to the fans and was able to leave last place. It was a very deserved victory and a great performance,” sports director Michael Zorc said.
“There was a lot of pressure. You could feel it, we didn’t have the lightness but were stable in defence. Now we need stability and must also earn points away from home.”