Bundesliga: Dortmund held in thriller vs. RB Leipzig

Borussia Dortmund 3-3 RB Leipzig
(Weigl 23', Brandt 35', Sancho 55' - Werner 47', 53', Schick 78')

In a thrilling and error-ridden game, Dortmund and Leipzig played out one of the most entertaining matches of the season so far.

Dortmund raced into a deserving first-half lead thanks to Julian Weigl's long-range effort that left Peter Gulacsi looking less than at his best and Julian Brandt's fantastic solo goal. The former Leverkusen player turned and span around in the box with the ball at his feet before finding the far corner.

Lucien Favre's side couldn't have played a better first half, but just six minutes into the second they found themselves level after two remarkable errors.

Roman Bürki came out a long way to head the ball clear but mistimed his header and ended up assisting Timo Werner, who just had to pass the ball into the empty net. Bürki made another great save to keep Leipzig at bay, but then Brandt played inexplicably played in Werner who rounded Bürki to take his tally to 18 for the season.

Just two minutes later though, Jadon Sancho swept home after good work by Marco Reus. In eight, wild second-half minutes, Dortmund had gone from throwing their lead to regaining it.

With the game in the balance, substitute Patrik Schick sent a rebound in after Bürki could only parry.RB Leipzig had drawn level.

Tired legs saw the game end without a real chance for a winner, but in an entertaining game it is Dortmund who will feel like they dropped points after their first half.

As it happened:

FULL TIME

Reus nearly sneaked in for another chance at the end, but it finishes a draw - and what a draw indeed. Two goals up, then level, then ahead again, and yet Leipzig found their way back into the game one more time. A Tuesday night thriller, that probably leaves Dortmund wondering how they didn't win given their first half.

90+1' Schulz, who came on for Guerreiro, drives goalwards from the left but his shot/cross is blocked. Corner is cleared. Three minutes of added time. Only two left...

89' Very heavy legs in the rain here. Hakimi trying to find something, but Leipzig's defense is there.

83' Halstenberg tries to float a ball into Werner, but it's just beyond him. Suddenly these two teams look out of energy, which isn't a surprise given all that's happened in this one. Have to say though, not to win from here would be a huge mental blow for Dortmund given where they were at halftime.

78' GOAL! 3-3 Leipzig (Schick) Are we even surprised, given how this game has gone. Bürki gets a fingertip to deny Mukiele but the rebound falls to substitute Schick who sends a shot in off the ground past the leaping Bürki. Well placed that, given the traffic in the box. How many more goals has this game got?

74' Jadon Sancho hobbles off, looks like his knee but I'm no doctor. Another scintillating performance from the young Englishman. Piszczek replaces him. For Leipzig, Cunha is on for Sabitzer. The game remains on a knife-edge. Dortmund are trying to play it out but it's almost the emotion and wild nature of this is beyond control. Whatever happens now, will happen. This one has lived up to the hype.

68' CHANCE! Hakimi is just too fast for Upamecano, but the defender recovers well. Then Halstenberg dives in, but ends up playing Reus in with his tackle. The Dortmund captain has no options in the box so goes for the far corner and is not far away. A game full of potential now.

66' Tobias Stieler takes a long look at whether this is a free kick or not. Demme is perhaps unlucky there because in the end, the refere says it is a foul. Dortmund waste the chance though. Over an hour played, the rain is pouring, there have been five goals but no yellow cards. This really has been a special game, even if it's take a breather since Sancho's goal 10 minutes ago.

60' We haven't had a goal for five minutes, but that gives us time to explore the last eight minutes. Wow. Dortmund completely beside themselves, Werner takes advantage and then Sancho saves them. Remarkable passage of play. Not high on quality, but certainly entertaining. Leipzig now pushing for yet another equalizer.

55' GOAL! 3-2 Dortmund (Sancho) This game has exploded! Leipzig give away possession this time. Reus is found, gets to the byline and tucks it back for Sancho, who takes one step to dummy the defender before firing past Gulacsi. As you were!

53' GOAL! 2-2 Leipzig (Werner)! This is genuinely remarkable. Brandt plays in Werner, who rounds Bürki and it's suddenly 2-2. Two enormous errors in eight minutes. Self-inflicted carnage right there.

52' SAVE! Bürki makes a brilliant save to deny Klostermann inside the six-yard box. Cat-like reflexes there. Crazy start to the second half.

52' All Leipzig. What a crazy thing momentum is. Halstenberg has the ball in the net after a ball is slipped through across the line, but, after a quick VAR check, he's offside. Dortmund are looking a completely different team. Remarkable. Seems only a matter of time before Leipzig get a second. Werner wants a penalty, Sabitzer has a shot blocked.

47' GOAL! 2-1 Leipzig get one back (Werner)! Bürki comes out a long way to clear a long ball but sends his header sideways, which leaves him in the middle of nowhere, the goal open and Werner with the ball. The Leipzig striker calmly places it into the empty goal for his 17th of the season. Talk about a gift...

46' Dortmund get us restarted. Nkunku is on for Leipzig, Forsberg made way.

HALFTIME

Dortmund have blown Leipzig away. A rare goal by Weigl that left Gulacsi looking short of his best deservedly gave the home side the lead. Then Julian Brandt delivered a moment of magic in the box to double Dortmund's lead. Before the break, Bürki made two excellent stops to deny an otherwise blunted Leipzig. A big message if it stays this way.

46' SAVE! Leipzig nearly sneak two before the break! First Yussuf Poulsen forces a top reflex save by Bürki, and then from the resulting corner the Swiss makes an even better save to deny Werner at the near post. That would have been undeserving. A big moment in the game, I think!

44' Leipzig try to slip Timo Werner in behind Dortmund's defense, but the otherwise not called upon Roman Bürki is out to clear. If this is rugby, that would have set Dortmund with great field position. Halftime approaching. Nagelsmann has work to do, and who would have thought that after all that has been said and done in the last few weeks?

40' Breathless is the only way to describe Dortmund's first half so far here. Sancho trying to nutmeg as many players as possible, Brandt moving like Zidane in his prime. The league leaders have simply not played a part in this game.

35' GOAL! 2-0 Dortmund (Brandt) Dortmund are in full flow here. Sancho bursts into the box from the left, slips a ball through a busy crowd to Brandt, who is already mid turn when the ball arrives. He gracefully takes the ball with him, mid turn, to leave the Leipzig defense bamboozled, before firing into the far corner. A sumptuous goal.

30' That goal has done something to Leipzig. Nagelsmann's boys looked a little unsettled at the moment. The home side have had more shots, more of the ball and won more tackles. Also, Hummels and Akanji have dealt with everything so far, which helps.

23' GOAL! 1-0 Dortmund (Weigl) Well! I was just saying how good Gulacsi is and then he misjudges the bounce on a Julian Weigl effort and ends up sending the ball into the roof of the net off his leg. It kept low and bounced just before it arrived, but it should have been a save. Weigl doesn't care though, a goal for the midfielder is a collector's item. Dortmund lead, and seconds before Gulacsi had denied Sancho when it looked like the Englishman was certain to score. A deserved lead!

22' Dortmund are in control here. Hakimi tries to sneak one in at the near post when perhaps a cross is better served. Can't fault the idea though. A good start here from Favre's men. Leipzig doing a lot of chasing so far.

14' CHANCE! Spoke about Hummels earlier and he gets another header goalwards here, and it's looping, but Peter Gulacsi gets to it and tips it over. A very strong save. He's been so good for so long too. Hungary's number one is also one of the Bundesliga's best.

10' The RB press is intense early on here. Hummels' best QB play required to get out of it. A note, the away block has been split into half standing, half seating with a strip of empty seats in between. There is also no one in the top sections of the away end, usually the case for the bigger numbers of away fans.

6' Good atmosphere, nice and loud. It usually is in Dortmund, but feels like there's something extra there tonight given the opposition. Leipzig working hard off the ball so far. The home side have had more of the ball. Julian Nagelsmann is in a gray roll neck tonight, which, I'm told, is in season.

2' A good start to this one. Lots of tackles going in but good, firm ones. Dortmund break quickly thanks to smart work by Julian Brandt, but the cross is blocked. Hummels heads over from the corner. He turned 31 yesterday. Will today be the day he scores his first since returning?

1' Lucien Favre's 50th Bundesliga game in charge of Dortmund has started. The visitors get the ball rolling.

— A rousing rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone". This is a big, big game. A clash of identities and approaches, and between two sides looking to win the title. The teams are in the tunnel...

— TEAMS! Dortmund bring Guerreiro back into the team, with Götze and a seemingly still-not-fit Alcacer on the bench. Leipzig look as strong as the could do, although it seems that despite having more natural central defending options Nordi Mukiele is preferred in that spot. The in-form Patrik Schick is on the bench.

Dortmund XI: Bürki - Zagadou, Hummels, Akanji - Hakimi, Brandt, Weigl, Guerreiro - Sancho, Reus, Hazard

Leipzig XI: Gulacsi - Klostermann, Upamecano, Mukiele, Halstenberg - Demme, Laimer - Sabitzer, Poulsen, Forsberg - Werner

— Julian Nagelsmann has been speaking before the game to Sky. "Dortmund had a nine point lead last season and weren't champions," Nagelsmann said when asked about his team's chances of winning the title this season.Fair enough, although the entire RB Leipzig discussion is an interesting one. It's worth reading Matt Ford's piece on the matter.

— Elsewhere tonight, there's plenty of other action before the final set of fixtures this weekend. The early game is a relegation battle between Werder Bremen and Mainz. Later, in-form Augsburg host troubled Fortuna and Union Berlin are at home against Hoffenheim. We'll keep you updated on how those progress and finish.

— Good evening! It's a busy finish to the first half of the Bundesliga season. Dortmund against Leipzig, Favre vs. Nagelsmann, Hummels vs. Werner - tonight promises to be a real treat at the right time of year.

RB Leipzig arrive in the Ruhr District having won their last seven matches and will be hoping to make it eight in Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday evening. BVB seem to have recovered from last month's doldrums that saw them lose 4-0 in Munich and manage just a draw against cellar dwellers Paderborn and are now also on an upward trend, having won their last three.

"Dortmund will throw everything at it and so will we. It's going to be a really interesting game," said RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann in the prematch press conference. "What matters most is how you perform on the day. Games like this are often decided by individual moments."

"It is a top match. We're playing at home and we want to win," Dortmund sports director Michael Zorc said. This feels like a big one.