Dortmund top
February 3, 2012
Borussia Dortmund took top spot in the Bundesliga on Friday evening, beating hosts Nuremberg 2-0.
The champions left it until the second half of the match to score, with goals from Sebastian Kehl and Lucas Barrios.
Captain Kehl put his team in the lead in the 48th minute, slotting in the ball with his left foot after receiving it from Lukasz Piszczek.
Paraguay international Lucas Barrios, who turned down the chance of a move away from the club earlier this week, bagged his first goal for the season on 82 minutes - just 10 minutes after he was brought on as a substitute. Barrios had previously said he wanted to leave the club after losing his first-team place to Robert Lewandowski.
"That was definitely a hard-fought victory," said Kehl, adding that the timing of his goal had been key. "Nuremberg were very compact and didn't make it easy, so it was important we went 1-0 up when we did."
Dortmund, who have won their last four games, have 43 points from 20 matches. They are now three ahead of Bayern Munich.
Bayern visit Hamburg in Saturday's soccer action, and could retake the lead on goal difference with a win. Schalke - also in the hunt for top spot - host Mainz the same day, a win meaning they would equal Dortmund on points.
rc/ai (AFP/dpa)