Match Report
BVB win 2-1 and take three points home from Cologne
Personnel matters
Compared to the match against Bayern Munich the previous weekend, Niko Kovac made four changes: Serhou Guirassy, Julian Brandt, Julian Ryerson and Ramy Bensebaini replaced Fabio Silva, Karim Adeyemi, Yan Couto (who all moved to the bench) and Emre Can (cruciate ligament rupture). Carney Chukwuemeka and Filippo Mane were also absent. Niklas Süle made a return to the squad.
The match
Köln, playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation, dominated the opening quarter of an hour, earning six corners and creating two good chances. BVB did not register their first shot until the ninth minute (Sabitzer). Once again, a Ryerson corner led to the opening goal. Ache's headed clearance fell to Beier, who played a sharp ball into the centre from outside the box. Guirassy stretched his right leg out to connect with the sole of his boot and force the ball over the line to give the Black & Yellows a 1-0 lead (16).
After half an hour, Köln were still dominating possession, with 60%, but Dortmund were now much more secure, letting their opponents come at them and waiting for their moments to pounce on the counter. One such moment came in the 40th minute, with Guirassy latching onto a clearance and driving towards goal, but FC keeper Schwäbe made the save to keep the score at 1-0. . At half-time, possession was evenly balanced, as was the number of tackles, but not the number of players: Köln's Simpson-Pusey was late on Beier, hitting him with his studs up on the Achilles tendon, and was initially shown a yellow card, but after VAR intervention, it was changed to a straight red (45+2).
Thanks to a fairly solid defence, BVB continued to control the game with an extra player – “fairly” because Kobel had to pull out all the stops against Kaminski in the 57th minute. Individual class made the difference in this evenly matched game. After a one-two, left-sided attacker Brandt found himself in a good position on the left of the box and slotted home to make it 2-0 on the hour mark.
BVB increased the tempo, at least in phases. When Özkacar got to the ball a fraction of a second earlier than Silva on his shot attempt (66), a penalty for BVB was rightly rescinded after a VAR review of the footage. Two minutes before the end, the home side pulled one back to make it 2-1 with a deflected shot from Kaminski. There were turbulent scenes in added time, with the home side claiming loudly for a possible handball from Cuoto, but the referee was unmoved.
Outlook
Next Saturday, BVB will host FC Augsburg at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. Bensebaini will also be unavailable, having received his fifth yellow card of the season.
1. FC KÖLN 1–2 (0-1) BORUSSIA DORTMUND
Bundesliga, Matchday 25
Saturday, 7 March 2026, 18:30 CET
1. FC Köln: Schwäbe – Krauss (86, Heintz), van den Berg, Simpson-Pusey, Lund – Johannesson (46, Özkacar), Martel – Niang (75, Maina), Kaminski, El Mala (86, Neumann) – Ache (86, Bülter)
Substitutes: Zieler, Chavez, Kainz, Waldschmidt
BVB: Kobel – Bensebaini (82, Süle), Anton, Schlotterbeck – Ryerson (61, Couto), Sabitzer, Nmecha (90+1, Bellingham), Svensson – Beier (82, Adeyemi), Brandt – Guirassy (61, Silva)
Substitutes: Meyer, Özcan, Inacio, Reggiani
Goals: 0-1 Guirassy (16, Beier), 0-2 Beier (60, Brandt), 1-2 Kaminski (88)
Red card: Simpson-Pusey (45+2, foul play), yellow cards: Martel – Bensebaini (5, suspended)
Referee: Siebert (Berlin)
Attendance: 50,000 (sold-out) at Rhein Energie Stadion
Boris Rupert
