Dortmund coach Edin Terzic buzzing over winning streak

A tweak from Terzic was the decisive factor. After a first period in which there were only a handful of chances – and they predominantly came from set-pieces – the coach found not only the right words during the half-time team talk but also the right means. The opposition appeared surprised by the three-man build-up with Emre Can behind the defence and the centre-backs significantly further forward.

The coach did have some sympathy for 19-year-old Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, who was sacrificed to implement this tactical tweak. "It had nothing to do with his performance," Terzic stressed, adding: "He was actually one of the liveliest in the first period." The reason for the winger's substitution: "We wanted to also have Jule Brandt in the centre in order to create numerical superiority."

His team, who had been 2-1 down at the break, turned the game around in the space of five minutes. A consequence of the tactical switch - "We wanted to build up with three players so that Emre had the game in front of him and was slightly deeper than the two other centre-backs" - led to the moment in the 49th minute when central defender Mats Hummels, who had been fed by Emre Can in the opposition half, passed to Nmecha, who in turn laid off the ball to the advancing Nico Schlotterbeck - the other central defender. What followed was a dream goal, a perfect long-range shot into the Union net.

"He doesn't hit the ball so well in training," said Terzic with a grin on his face. "I hit it - the fact that it went in like that was very good," Schlotterbeck said succinctly, before adding: "We played a very good game in the second half. We changed positions very often, we were very flexible on the pitch, Marco and Julian were super in the spaces in between."

The aforementioned Reus and Brandt sensationally combined to create the goal that made it 3-2. Julian Brandt cleared a Christopher Trimmel cross in his own penalty area and Marco Reus then demonstrated his outstanding understanding of the game. As soon as he received the ball in his own half, he had his eye on Brandt and drove forward at exactly the pace required for Brandt to sprint past him. What followed was perfect: a pass right into his path, a brief touch and a shot at head height for the opposition goalkeeper - unstoppable.

"When we get the ball into dangerous areas, then we pose a danger," explained centre-forward Niclas Füllkrug, who had opened the scoring at 1-0 in the match. He emphasised "the force and energy with which we approached the second half: We then played really super football."

Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich can still move past Borussia Dortmund in the table this Sunday. BVB will therefore spend the international break in fourth place (or higher) and will look to continue the trend in a fortnight's time. "We're on a decent path," emphasised Nico Schlotterbeck, "but we can still do a lot more".

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