Erling Haaland's 12th Goal in Eight Games Moves Dortmund Up to Second With Win Over Bremen

Borussia Dortmund earned a hard-fought 2-0 win away to Werder Bremen on Saturday afternoon, with Erling Haaland once again starring for his side. 

Werder Bremen started the clash brightly as they looked to peg the away side back, but Dortmund began to grow into the contest. However, while BVB saw as much as 60% of the ball in the first half, they struggled to create any real openings. 

Omer Toprak wasted a glorious opportunity for the hosts midway through the first half, poking wide from a free kick, and both teams went into the break goalless despite Bremen causing ​Dortmund problems on quick breaks. 

However, the away side were much improved at the start of the second half and it didn't take them long to move into the lead, Dan-Axel Zagadou firing low from the centre of the box into the bottom right corner of the goal following Jadon Sancho's cross. 

And after 63 minutes, Dortmund doubled their lead. Sancho played a delightful ball through to Achraf Hakimi, who looked up and found Haaland in the middle. The Norwegian slammed home emphatically to score his ninth goal in only his sixth league appearance for his new club – and just his fourth start.

Haaland came close once again, but Jiri Pavlenka was forced into a smart stop to deny him. With the away side fully in control, they began to create a number of opportunities, and it was once again Haaland who forced Pavlenka into action. 

As he turned away from a challenge, he sprinted towards the penalty box before cutting in and unleashing a ferocious shot, but the Werder Bremen goalkeeper was able to deny him. The referee blew the final whistle seconds later.

The win takes Dortmund back up to second place in the table ahead of RB Leipzig's match, four points behind leaders Bayern Munich. Next up, they host Freiburg on Saturday.