Maximilian Beier starred for Borussia Dortmund as they defeated 10-man Koln 2-1 at RheinEnergieStadion on Saturday.
Beier assisted Serhou Guirassy’s opener before scoring Dortmund’s second on the hour mark, though Jakub Kaminski caused a nervy finish after halving the deficit late on.
It was Koln who started on the front foot, with Isak Bergmann Johannesson seeing two efforts blocked in quick succession inside the first minute before Youssoupha Niang forced a full-stretch save from Gregor Kobel.
But Dortmund took the lead in the 16th minute when Beier headed a half-cleared corner back into the box, and Guirassy managed to keep himself onside before prodding the ball past Marvin Schwabe.
Things were then made harder for the home side when Manchester City loanee Jahmai Simpson-Pusey was shown a straight red card for a poor challenge on Beier in first-half stoppage time.
Niko Kovac’s side made sure to capitalise on their numerical advantage in the second half, with Beier playing a give-and-go with Julian Brandt before curling into the bottom-right corner.
Koln never let up, highlighted by Kaminski’s powerful strike to beat Kobel in the 88th minute, though they could not snatch a point from the hopeful Bundesliga title challengers.
Bros on and off the pitch. pic.twitter.com/jzUO6aTKcN
— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) March 7, 2026
Data Debrief: Guirassy ticks another off the list
It was a straightforward victory in the end for Dortmund, who produced 1.95 expected goals (xG) from 13 shots to Koln’s 1.14 from 14 attempts.
BVB’s strong defence, led by Nico Schlotterbeck, set the foundation for a clinical performance at the other end. Schlotterbeck led his side in duels won (six), passes in the final third (22), successful passes (96.6%), and aerial battles won (three).
Meanwhile, Guirassy, a former Koln striker, has now scored against all the current teams in the Bundesliga other than Hamburg.