Borussia Dortmund forward Serhou Guirassy headed an 83rd-minute winner to hand it a 2-1 victory over visiting St Pauli on Friday and provisionally lift it to fourth place in the Bundesliga.
Guinea international Guirassy headed in a cross at the far post to bag the three points five minutes after St Pauli’s Eric Smith silenced the home crowd with a stunning equaliser.
Dortmund, which faces Real Madrid in the Champions League next week, had lost 2-1 at Union Berlin on the previous matchday but bounced back to protect its 100% win rate in home matches this season.
It has not enjoyed the best of starts, failing to win on the road so far, and it has not managed back-to-back wins in the league this season.
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“We were calm in the first half, and we knew it would take some time to find the spaces,” Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin told a press conference. “But when you don’t kill off the game by scoring a second goal, then we conceded an incredible goal.
“But the boys kept at it and scored a second one. It was important to have four wins out of four at home and to be in touch with the top spots.
“Now it’s all about recovery, and on Monday, we train ahead of the Real match,” he said.
The host dominated early on and could have scored well before they took a deserved lead through Ramy Bensebaini’s looping header two minutes before the break.
Earlier St Pauli’s Morgan Guilavogui had found the back of the net, but his effort was ruled offside.
Dortmund should have added more goals after the break with Julian Brandt and Donyell Malen, among others spurning chances, but instead, it was the visitor who struck with Smith’s 30-metre missile in the 78th minute.
Guirassy, however, headed in a cross from Jamie Bynoe-Gittens for his fourth goal of the campaign to lift Dortmund to 13 points.
Leader Bayern Munich, on 14, faces VfB Stuttgart on Saturday. RB Leipzig, also on 14, travels to Mainz 05.
