Dortmund 3-3 Leipzig: Report, Ratings & Reaction as Error-Plagued Thriller Ends Honours Even

Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig played out a six-goal thriller on Tuesday night as Die Roten Bullen stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to 11 games.

After a tense, tactical battle to start proceedings, the hosts started to gain the upper hand, with Mats Hummels and Achraf Hakimi testing Peter Gulacsi in the Leipzig net.

Leipzig were made to pay for their slow start when BVB took the lead through Julian Weigl - who scored just his fourth Dortmund goal. After Gulacsi had parried a tame Jadon Sancho effort, Raphael Guerreiro teed up the defensive-minded midfielder on the edge of the box – and the 24-year-old unleashed a well-hit drive which caught out the Hungarian shot-stopper at his front post. 

With BVB continuing to frustrate the sub-par visitors, Julian Brandt deservedly doubled the home side's lead after leaving Dayot Upamecano for dead with an elegant turn before firing past Gulacsi with his left foot. It was a wonderful finish that matched Dortmund's impressive opening 45 minutes. 

Leipzig sprung into life just before the break, however, as headers from Yussuf Poulsen and Timo Werner forced Roman Burki into two brilliant saves.

Burki quickly turned from hero to villain after the break however, as he made a complete hash of a rather harmless ball in behind the Dortmund backline, heading the ball into the path of Werner who slotted into an empty net from distance.

One quickly became two for the league leaders as Werner pounced on a blind backpass from goalscorer Brandt before rounding Burki and once more finishing into an empty net. 

The hosts quickly restored their lead, however, rounding off an incredible start to the second period. After being fed behind Leipzig's left-hand channel, Marco Reus played a delightful cut back to Sancho in the box, the teenager coolly setting himself before firing past Gulacsi.

Then, just as BVB looked like they were going to get their fourth, Leipzig pegged them back once more through Patrik Schick. The Upamecano-Mukiele combination proved effective again as the former found the full-back with a perfectly directed cross-field ball in behind Guerreiro. Mukiele's attempted pass across the face of goal was blocked, with the ricochet falling to the in-form Czech who made no mistake.

Despite the home side threatening late on, they weren't able to get the winner and the game ended 3-3.

DORTMUND

Key Talking Point

Overall, Lucien Favre will be bitterly disappointed that his side haven't come away from this one with all three points. 

His 3-4-3 proved effective in the first half as the dangerous Leipzig could barely get out of their own half and going forward themselves, they looked bright, quick and fluid. 

However, two errors to start the second half gifted the visitors a route back into the game and the game started to open up, with Dortmund losing the rigid, compact structure that they displayed in the opening 45 minutes. 

After taking the lead once more in the second half, Favre's men failed to capitalise on a few good openings and succumbed to a Leipzig equaliser with 15 minutes to go.

Nevertheless, there were plenty of positives to take from this Dortmund performance and tonight shows that they're still going somewhere under their Swiss coach, so expect them to be challenging for the title come May.

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Burki (7); Zagadou (6), Hummels (7), Akanji (7); Guerreiro (6), Weigl (7), Brandt (8), Hakimi (8); Hazard (7), Reus (7), Sancho (9*).

Subs: Piszczek (5), Schulz (6).

Star Man

Jadon Sancho's stock continues to rise as he proved influential yet again on Tuesday night.

The Englishman popped up all across the midfield as he tried to get on the ball as much as he could. He proved to be a constant menace in between Leipzig's lines, and played a role in  Weigl's opener after receiving in behind the midfield.

While he was as confident as ever with the ball at his feet, Sancho once more produced in the final third - setting up Brandt's excellent finish after a driving run inside before scoring BVB's third of the night after a neat bit of composure allowed him to strike past Gulacsi with conviction.

Despite his game getting cut short due to injury, the 19-year-old was undoubtedly the home side's greatest influence.

LEIPZIG

Key Talking Point

Julian Nagelsmann's Leipzig have widely been associated with a suffocating intensity out of possession and the ability to progress the ball swiftly between opposition lines, two principles that were largely absent from their performance in the first half.

They sat off BVB as they tried to prevent the hosts' creators receiving behind their midfield three and while that tactic was successful early on, Dortmund were able to play vertically at relative ease after their opener. 

With the game opening up in the second period, Nagelsmann's side inevitably improved and quickly levelled things up after a couple of unforgivable Dortmund errors. 

And while they weren't at their free-flowing best, they showed tremendous character to come back once more and gain an invaluable point in an incredibly tough environment.

A sign of champions? Certainly.

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Gulacsi (5); Mukiele (7), Klostermann (6), Upamecano (6), Halstenberg (5); Demme (6), Laimer (5); Forsberg (6), Sabitzer (5); Werner (7*), Poulsen (6)

Subs: Nkunku (6), Schick (7), Cunha (5)

Star Man

On a night where they largely struggled in possession and made persistent errors at the back, Leipzig's standout performer had to be Timo Werner - who bagged himself a brace. 

The prolific German hassled BVB's back three throughout, getting rewarded for his work out of possession with Burki and Brandt presenting him with two early Christmas presents for both his goals.

Nevertheless, his second was a tidy finish, beating Burki one-on-one before sliding the ball into an empty net. On a night where he was largely quiet, Werner continued to prove his worth.

Looking Ahead

There's a short turnaround for both sides, as Dortmund travel to ninth place Hoffenheim on Friday in their final game ahead of the winter break while Leipzig host Augsburg on Saturday with Die Roten Bullen hoping to go into the break as Bundesliga leaders.