Although Dortmund accounted for most of the possession as expected, St. Pauli were in no mood to accommodate. Indeed, they showed their intent not to lie down as early as the 13th minute, when the game’s first real chance saw Julian Brandt’s shot on the rebound blocked on the line by Hauke Wahl.
And they momentarily seemed set to stun Dortmund barely three minutes later, when an apparent handball from Fabio Silva at the end of a Martijn Kaars shot saw Harm Osmers point to the spot, only for a VAR review to overturn the decision.
Brandt resumed his influential ways as the half-hour mark approached, firstly winning a foul inside the D after being hauled down by James Sands and firing just wide from the resulting free kick.
But after Gregor Kobel’s good reflex save at the near post from Mathias Pereira Lage, it was third-time lucky for Brandt on the stroke of half-time, when Karim Adeyemi’s searing run down the right flank enabled him to send in a low cross, which Brandt easily tapped in for his fifth league goal of the campaign.
With Dortmund now on course to build on what was already their best midway points tally for seven years, it looked like the visitors would need a miracle to upset an opposition that also began the weekend boasting a league-high six clean sheets at home.
But Dortmund - after Kaars’ promising run was cut out by Waldemar Anton on 51’ - doubled their advantage just 10 minutes into the second half. Brandt was again involved, with a well-improvised flick on to Silva through St. Pauli’s static defence, which saw him in turn feed Adeyemi for a tap-in.
Nothing short of an early gift for Adeyemi on the eve of his 24th birthday, the second Dortmund goal seemingly made the remainder of play almost a formality.
However, St. Pauli managed to halve the deficit out of nowhere just seven minutes later, when a well-placed corner from Eric Smith met the head of Sands, who found the far corner to breathe new life into the visitors’ afternoon and ensure that Dortmund wouldn’t be getting a fourth straight Bundesliga home win to nil.
Perhaps harbouring some memories of the two late goals they conceded in the reverse fixture (D 3-3), Der BVB now looked uncharacteristically nervy. And history indeed repeated itself in the 72nd minute, when a free kick from Smith was met by Ricky-Jade Jones.
But the boy from Peterborough would go from hero to zero in stoppage time, when a foul on Maximilian Beier just inside the area saw Emre Can sustain his 100% senior record from the spot, with a powerful drive into the bottom-right corner, ensuring an 11th win for Dortmund in 16 league matches to see them net the opener.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund)
