Borussia Dortmund celebrated a deserved, workmanlike victory without much flashiness, but with the necessary fight. They allowed Hertha Berlin only five shots – less than in any other game this season for the team from the capital. Match facts:

Good second half to the season: BVB have won 11 of their 13 Bundesliga matches this calendar year and, with four games remaining, have already gained more points (33) than in the full round of 17 matches in the first half of the season (30).

Half-time team talk: No team has scored as many goals in the opening quarter of the second half as BVB. Today it was goal number 20.

Number one at home: Borussia Dortmund are top of the league – in the home table at least – with 36 points.

Straight back to his best: In his first appearance in the starting 11 after the Corona break, Axel Witsel won eight of his 10 duels and failed to complete only three passes. 96% of the 80 passes he played found their target.

Double digits: Julian Brandt provided the assist for the winning goal – his seventh of the season. Including his three goals, he has now been directly involved in 10 goals – which means that Brandt has now reached double digits for goal contributions for his fifth season in a row (previously for Leverkusen).

Strong stats: Manuel Akanji played his first missed pass at the end of the first half, finding his own man with 75 of his 82 attempts in the end and, with a passing success rate of 91 percent, posted the best figures behind Axel Witsel (96%), Emre Can (95%) and Lukasz Piszczek (94%).

A taste of the first team: In defender Marco Rente (23) and attacker Immanuel Pherai (19), two players from the U23s were in the Bundesliga squad for the first time. (br)