Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Hertha Berlin – Dortmund narrow the gap back to 7 points on Bayern Munich thanks to a tidy goal from Emre Can against an underwhelming Hertha Berlin side. 

First half: 

The First half was a game of very few chances for both sides in a tightly contested game where Hertha Berlin stood strong defensively against a flat Dortmund side that looked to be missing star striker Erling Haaland despite netting 6 last week away at Paderborn. 

Second half: 

The game opened up more in the Second half as both sides had chances early on especially Jadon Sancho who missed a sitter with the goal gaping to keep the score at 0-0, a miss that surprised everyone. 

Hertha Berlin’s best opportunity not only of the half but of the game fell to Alexander Esswein who was put through by Vladimir Darida however in a big moment Esswein fired his shot wide of the post to keep the score at 0-0. 

Just a couple of minutes later and the deadlock was broken by Borussia Dortmund’s Emre Can who finished a nice Borussia Dortmund move off to make it 1-0 as Can scored his first goal for Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park to put the hosts one up. 

Borussia Dortmund did have a penalty appeal turned down late on when Emre Can’s volley appeared to strike the arm of Anga Dedryck Boyata however the referee and VAR both said no penalty as the ball was struck to close to Boyata for him to move out the way. 

Borussia Dortmund should have doubled their lead with just a minute of normal time to play however Jadon Sancho who was the architect of the move had his close range effort well saved by the feet of Rune Jarstein to give Hertha Berlin a little hope in the remaining moments. 

Full time

Match rating – 4/10 

Man of the match: 

Emre Can – The match winner put in an all-round fine display in defence and was a constant threat going forward, a fine day for the German. 

Fascinating facts: 

This was Emre Can’s first home Bundesliga goal for Borussia Dortmund 

Hertha Berlin now haven’t won at Dortmund since a 1-2 win in 2013 

This was Hertha Berlin’s first away defeat since November 24th 2019 

This was Hertha Berlin’s first defeat since Bruno Labbadia took over

Borussia Dortmund have now kept clean sheets in 5 of their last 6 home Bundesliga games

Bayer Leverkusen 2-4 Bayern Munich – Bayern Munich came from behind to continue their 100% record since the football returned away at a Bayern Leverkusen side who lost ground in the race for Champions League football. 

First half: 

It was hosts Bayer Leverkusen who took the lead after just 9 minutes when striker Lucas Alario put the ball past Manuel Neuer at the near post, despite the goal originally being ruled out for offside, VAR overturned the decision and BayerLeverkusen took a much needed lead. 

Bayern Munich had a glorious chance to equalise in the 24thminute through star man Robert Lewandowski however with the striker falling backwards his header lacked power which allowed Leverkusen keeper Lukas Hradecky to make an easy save out of what looked like it would be a certain goal. 

Bayern Munich did equalise just a few minutes later when Kingsley Coman finished well in a one on one situation to score his sixth goal of the season to put the league leaders back on level terms. 

Bayern Munich would then take the lead just four minutes before half time when Leon Goretzka scored his second goal in four matches when his left footed shot beat Hradecky despite the keeper getting a hand to it, Munich took a much needed lead before half time. 

Bayern Munich would then add to their tally when winger Serge Gnabry made it three before half time when he lobbed the ball over Hradecky to give Munich a comfortable lead going in to the break as the league leaders were now cruising. 

Second half: 

65 minutes played and of course Robert Lewandowski scored once again heading home after a fine cross from Thomas Muller as the Polish striker made it 30 goals for the season to give Bayern Munich a 1-4 lead and seal the points for Bayern Munich against a lack lustre Leverkusen side. 

Bayer Leverkusen had an opportunity to pull a goal back when winger Moussa Diaby forced a save out of Munich keeper Manuel Neuer who although it looked as though the shot might have been going over the crossbar anyway. 

Leverkusen did get their reward just a minute from the end when substitute Florian Wirtz scored an impressive left footed curling shot beyond the despairing Manuel Neuer to make it 2-4 and make the score line a little more respectable for Peter Bosz side. 

Match rating – 7.5/10 

Man of the match: 

Leon Goretzka – The German has been in fine form since the return of the Bundesliga and today was no different with a goal and an assist to his name with a dominant midfield display. 

Fascinating facts: 

Robert Lewandowski has now equalled his best Bundesliga goal tally with 30 goals to his name. 

This was Kingsley Coman’s first ever goal against BayerLeverkusen. 

Bayern Munich have now won 10 games in a row in all competitions. 

Bayer Leverkusen have now lost back to back home games for the first time this season. 

Bayern Munich haven’t lost an away game since December.

Swansea City 1-0 Norwich City – Swansea City followed up their impressive win at Arsenal by this time beating relegation candidates Norwich City while the Canaries are now 9 games without a win in the Premier League. 

First Half – The First Half of the clash was largely a forgettable affair with the best chance of the half falling to Cameron Jerome who shot from outside the box was saved by Lukasz Fabianski. The half ended with a huge penalty appeal for the home side when Timm Klose bought down Andre Ayew in the box however the referee waved the appeals away despite it looking a clear penalty. 

Second Half – The first major talking point of the Second Half was the opening goal of the game which was scored by Gylfi Sigurdsson who calmly slotted home from inside the box in the 61st minute of the match to give Swansea City the lead; however Alex Neil will certainly have been disappointed with the defending from his side. 

The closest the game came to a goal after that was once again from Gylfi Sigurdsson whose free kick was well saved by John Ruddy to keep Norwich in with a shout of getting something. 

The closest Norwich City came to an equaliser was through winger Nathan Redmond after having his initial shot blocked the ball once again fell to him after a poor Wayne Routledge clearance only for the winger to shoot wide of the post to make sure Norwich City left the Liberty Stadium empty handed. 

Match rating: 

4/10

Man of the match – Gylfi Sigurdsson 

Fascinating facts: 

Gylfi Sigurdsson scored his 8th Premier League goal of the season

Swansea City are now 9 points clear of the relegation zone after back to back wins 

Cameron Jerome remains without a Premier League goal in 2016 

Norwich City without a win since 2nd of January

This is only the second time Swansea City have won back to back Premier League games all season 

Both meetings between the sides this season has ended 1-0 to the home side

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton