Guirassy and Beier on target as Dortmund pile more misery on Köln

Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory away at relegation-threatened Köln.

While Köln are in the middle of a tense relegation battle, defeats to Atalanta and Bayern Munich all but ended the season for Borussia Dortmund in March. As such, the hosts were far more energetic than their opponents in the early exchanges.

On his first start since early February, Ísak Jóhannesson created havoc in Dortmund’s box before a combined effort denied him. It was only five minutes after kickoff when they created the next big chance through the 19-year-old Youssoupha Niang, who was making his full Bundesliga debut. Gregor Kobel tipped his header over the crossbar.

Köln had five corner-kicks inside the first 15 minutes, but they were unable to create a chance from any of them. On the contrary, Dortmund’s first such opportunity initiated the opening goal of the match.

Lukas Kwasniok’s side defended the initial delivery before Maximilian Beier puts it back in the danger zone, where Serhou Guirassy awaited from an onside position. The Guinean made the all-important connection to beat Marvin Schwäbe in Köln’s goal.

Last season’s Champions League joint top-scorer spent a largely unsuccessful spell in Köln before coming back to Germany by signing for Stuttgart in 2022. Beier was also involved in the next big moment of the game with a dangerous play by Manchester City loanee Jahmai Simpson-Pusey to stop him.

After a VAR check, the initial yellow card decision by Daniel Siebert was converted to a straight red. The 20-year-old center-back left the game in injury-time of the first-half in his first start since matchday 18.

The ten-man hosts remained adventurous after the restart as Kobel had to stay alert to deny Jakub Kamiński. Julian Ryerson blocked the follow-up attempt by the lively Niang. The rare chance served as a wake-up call for Dortmund as they extended their lead a couple of minutes later.

Beier continued to help his cause for World Cup selection with a smart finish after a one-two with Julian Brandt. After coming on as Guirassy’s replacement, Fábio Silva created more havoc for Köln’s defense.

Fellow substitute Cenk Özkacar initially conceded a penalty-kick for a foul on the striker before VAR intervened once again. Last season’s 2. Bundesliga champions did get a deserved goal when Kamiński scored with Waldemar Anton’s deflection making things harder for Kobel. Dortmund held on to the result in the additional six minutes to return to winning ways after damaging defeats in two competitions. Siebert waved away a couple of half-hearted penalty-kick shouts by the hosts late in injury-time.

Dortmund reduced the gap with Bayern back to 11 points, although the title race seemed to be over with only nine games left in the calendar. Before Werder Bremen and St. Pauli’s games on Sunday, Kwasniok’s side are only two points off the relegation playoff spot.

Köln will face direct rivals in successive games as the trip to Hamburg will be followed by the derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Dortmund will host Augsburg and Hamburg in their remaining fixtures this month.