Matchday 14 of the Bundesliga saw Borussia Dortmund climb up to third place in the table; BVB now lead a five-team group chasing runaway leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach and RB Leipzig.

Borussia Mönchengladbach (31 points) and RB Leipzig (30 points) sit atop the table. Not far behind are Borussia Dortmund on 26. But that's not the most important thing right now. The Black & Yellows have managed to win two matches on the bounce, and the manner in which they carved open opposing defences in both the 2-1 win away in Berlin as well as the 5-0 home triumph over Fortuna Düsseldorf suggests that the team have successfully turned the corner after a poor run of form.

Lucien Favre was ''very happy with the performance'' of his players. ''We've had a few setbacks in the past few weeks, but what really counts is how you bounce back after the difficult moments,'' said Jadon Sancho. The team seem to have found the right balance between defensive stability and attacking flair. ''We put together a lot of nice passing combinations up front and kept it tight at the back. That's how things should continue,'' said Thorgan Hazard. Captain Marco Reus believes the squad now has to press on and keep up the momentum: ''I really hope that we can keep this up in our next few matches.''

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The attacking trident of Reus, Sancho and Hazard notched up eight of the ten scorer points resulting from the five goals scored against Fortuna Düsseldorf. Although Julian Brandt failed to find the back of the net or provide an assist for a teammate, the summer recruit from Leverkusen directed affairs from midfield. The Germany international racked up 119 touches of the ball - more than any other player. ''I really enjoyed being out there on that pitch today,'' said Brandt, who seems to have found his best position playing at the heart of midfield alongside Axel Witsel. It was his high-quality passes that created imbalances in the Fortuna defence and paved the way for the first and second goals. He was unlucky to not record an assist after setting up two excellent goal-scoring opportunities. Brandt further distinguished himself with a pass completion percentage of 90 and a tackles won percentage of 91.
Boris Rupert