BERLIN, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Borussia Dortmund kicked off the Bundesliga's 15th round by beating Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 at Signal Iduna Park on Friday.
Dortmund controlled the early phases and was ahead inside 10 minutes when Julian Brandt volleyed in at the far post from Niklas Sule's cross. The opener was contentious, with Gladbach appealing for a foul as Serhou Guirassy appeared to pull Philipp Sander to the ground, but referee Sven Jablonski and his team allowed the goal to stand.
The hosts continued to dictate play against a compact visiting block. Guirassy headed wide, and Karim Adeyemi then forced goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas into a sharp save in the 29th minute as Dortmund pushed for a second.
Gladbach improved late in the first half, with Florian Neuhaus and Giovanni Reyna both seeing deflected efforts drift off target, but Dortmund went into the break 1-0 up.
The visitors began the second half with more intent and Neuhaus was denied when Emre Can threw himself in front of his shot, taking a heavy follow-through in the process. Dortmund thought they had doubled the lead when Guirassy scored, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
Chances then came at both ends without either side finding a cutting edge. Gregor Kobel reacted sharply to keep out Wael Mohya's drive in the 80th minute, while at the other end Nicolas continued to frustrate Dortmund, denying substitute Maximilian Beier before watching him miss a clear opening in the 89th minute.
Beier, however, had the final say, finishing Fabio Silva's pass in the seventh minute of stoppage time to seal the 2-0 win.
"It was a hard-fought game, and we are happy to take the win at the end of a long year," Brandt said.
The result extended Dortmund's home winning run against Gladbach to a club-record 12 straight matches and consolidated its second place in the Bundesliga with 32 points from 15 games, six behind leader Bayern Munich, while Gladbach remains 11th on 16 points. ■
