Borussia Dortmund hosted Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, with both sides looking to maintain their 100% record to start the season.
Dortmund dominated but were not clinical enough in front of goal, with Sebastian Mielitz tested on a number of occasions in a goalless first half.
Robert Lewandowski broke the deadlock 10 minutes into the second with a tap-in and despite many more opportunities the hosts had to settle for 1-0.
Read how the action unfolded below.
Hello everyone! Thanks for joining me tonight for what should be an interesting clash between two of the current Bundesliga top five. It's Dortmund vs. Werder Bremen.
Dortmund are temporarily top, with their 2-1 win over Braunschweig last weekend adding to their opening day 4-0 rout at Augsburg. Their visitors, Bremen, have been less free-scoring but have been very solid at the back, with 1-0 wins against the same two opponents.
The hosts had a tough time of it against Braunschweig, who came to Signal Iduna Park with a very disciplined plan and were just shy of 15 minutes away from taking a point.
Now up against Werder, who have yet to concede in their two games, Dortmund could well have a similar story. They will want to start better than they did on Sunday, however, because the crowd were starting to get on their back as the second half went on.
Without further ado, here are the teams for tonight...
DORTMUND XI: Weidenfeller; Grosskreutz, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Kehl, Sahin; Blaszczykowski, Mkhitaryan, Reus; Lewandowski
WERDER XI: Mielitz; Selassie, Prodl, Lukimya, Caldirola; Makiadi; Ekici, Junuzovic; Arnautovic, Hunt, Yildirim
And a look at the respective benches:
Dortmund: Langerak, Durm, Sokratis, Bender, Hofmann, Aubameyang, Schieber
Bremen: Wolf, Di Santo, Elia, Hartherz, Ignjovski, Kroos, Petersen
So for Dortmund, Sebastian Kehl comes in for Sven Bender in the midfield. There is also no Ilkay Gundogan, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan coming in for him, behind Robert Lewandowski.
It's a quite narrow looking formation form Werder, who have Cedric Makiadi deployed in front of the back four to deal with Mkhitaryan. Aaron Hunt and Marko Arnautovic will be in support of Sercan Yildirim. It could get a little clogged in the middle of the park. Not long until kickoff now.
KICKOFF: Werder kick off and we are underway!
Dortmund are getting time on the ball early on here, with Bremen immediately sitting deep without much pressing. That is until Roman Weidenfeller is closed down and his kick goes all the way through to Mielitz at the other end. Nothing in the way of danger yet.
It's still Dortmund with all the possession. They are probing and passing but Werder's shape is fantastic early on and there are no gaps for the men in yellow to drift into just yet. Sahin finds Blaszczykowski who crosses dangerously, but Gebre Selassie clears behind.
Half-chance there for Mkhitaryan. He's found beyond the far post by a deep cross from Marcel Schmelzer but can only slice his volley wide under pressure. They will want to create better chances than that, Dortmund, but it has been a positive start.
Werder press to win the ball, but neat play from Sahin means he is able to control a fizzed pass from Subotic and find Blaszczykowski. The Pole's cross is blocked for a corner, which comes to nothing in the end. Play is stopped as big Prodl goes down, but he's up quickly and doesn't make a fuss.
Dortmund win a free kick wide on the left, which Marco Reus steps over. He fizzes in a fantastic ball which Mielitz is able to punch clear at the last moment - that is a wicked delivery which is always likely to produce a goal. All it needed was a touch, but in the end the keeper got there. Dortmund come again but Blaszczykowski is offside and Bremen can breathe.
The visitors try a free kick of their own, albeit much deeper on the pitch. There's no trouble for Weidenfeller as he rises and gathers the ball. Bit of a tasty challenge from Sahin on Ekici following that but no card given.
Werder are seeing a little bit more of the ball now, but Dortmund are still very much on top. No further chances to speak of, but the pressure is starting to build as Dortmund's possession is getting higher up the pitch.
Kehl gives the ball away but presses well to put the Werder back line under pressure. Yildirim tries to combine with Arnautovic, but Subotic steps in to intercept. Makiadi fouls Mkhitaryan and now Reus has another chance from an even better angle.
That time Reus went for goal, trying to catch Mielitz out at his near post. It's a poor effort though and the keeper was never in danger. The ball is quickly back with the hosts, who probe again.
Blaszczykowski is in behind for the first time in the game. His first cross is blocked by Lukimya and his second effort goes beyond everyone and out for a goal kick.
Werder break forward through Arnautovic and he is blocked by Subotic, but eventually gives away a free kick. That's an excellent piece of defending.
Blaszczykowski is clattered late by Caldirola, who left his foot in and raked it on to the Pole's foot. No booking, and Blaszczykowski is up after a bit of pain. Mkhitaryan to take...
Prodl, who has been a rock, rises highest to meet the kick and clears the ball. From it Yildirim finds Arnautovic, but his effort is sliced and the ball goes for a goal kick. That's the first sight of goal the visitors have had.
Fantastic run from Yildirim, who cuts in from the right and goes for goal on his left. It's blocked for a corner, which is headed clear by Reus. Werder go back but pressure tells and Dortmund have the ball once more.
CLOSE! Fantastic raking ball from Kehl, who finds Reus on the left with pinpoint accuracy. Reus cuts in and shoots towards the near post, but his effort is wide. He should probably have hit the target.
Bremen are having a little more joy now on the break as the Dortmund pressure eases slightly. They are still having a tough time creating chances, although that can easily be levelled at BVB too. Unfortunately, this is not very exciting at the moment.
OFF THE BAR! So unlucky for Blaszczykowski. He moves to the edge of the box with the ball and, head down, drives it goalwards. Mielitz is beaten, but the ball cracks the bar and comes back into play. Reus's follow-up effort is at the keeper, with Lewandowski then turning the ball wide with his left foot as Dortmund step up the pressure.
Dortmund are zipping the ball about nicely, with Werder chasing shadows somewhat at the moment. Makiadi mmistimes one against and brings down Sahin. He can't be too far off a yellow card now.
CHANCE!Hummels, Sahin and Schmelzer discuss tactics with the short break in play. When we resume Grosskreutz crosses for Reus, who shoots from an angle and Lewandowski is about an inch away from turning it into the net! So close.
SAVE! Mielitz is called into action again, this time from Lewandowski. Sahin flicked the ball forward and Lewandowski hit it first time from the edge of the box, but it was a bit close to the visiting keeper.
CLOSE! Another save from Mielitz, but again it was straight at him. Reus did strike it with an awful lot of power, though. From the corner Hummels's header is cleared off the line by Hunt and then Sahin strikes just over after it bobbled in the box! Incredible how Dortmund are not ahead.
HALF-TIME: Dortmund 0-0 Werder
At the other end Arnautovic fizzes a shot just wide from a tight angle, which ends the half. It really picked up in the last 10 minutes and I'm not quite sure how Dortmund are not leading here. Werder have ridden their luck, but can it hold for another 45 minutes?
For the hosts it has been a very similar story to Sunday's match against Braunschweig. It took them 74 minutes to score there, although their visitors weren't quite as desperate at half time as Werder were in the last 10 minutes here.
STATISTICS:
Dortmund:
Shots: 19
On target: 9
Possession: 60%
Corners: 4
Werder:
Shots: 3
On target: 2
Possession: 40%
Corners: 1
Those stats, and this from Dortmund's official Twitter feed, about sum up the game so far!
Der. Ball. Will. Nicht. Rein! // The. Ball. Just. Won't. Go. In. There. #bvbsvw — Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) August 23, 2013
The players are coming back out. It has now been 47 shots and counting against Bremen this season and no goals against!
KICKOFF: Dortmund get us back underway, with no changes from either side at the break.
Early chance with a free kick on the left for Dortmund, as Ekici brings down Schmelzer. Reus again...
Prodl, again, heads the ball away, but in truth the ball was not close enough to the goalkeeper to be a threat for the defence.
Junuzovic goes down following a challenge from Mkhitaryan. Dortmund come again through Blaszczykowski, but his pass for the onrushing Sahin is intercepted. Reus and Lewandowski try to get through but, yet again, Prodl is solid and wins the ball. He has played magnificently.
CLOSE: Mielitz is beaten this time from a Kehl shot, but that was because of a deflection that takes it not too far over the bar and out for a corner.
GOAL! Dortmund 1-0 Bremen (Robert Lewandowski)
Finally! I was just about to say how well the Bremen defence was holding up this half, but they have been undone. A number of Dortmund players are offside, but they get back behind the line as Reus drives down the right and the defence are horribly positioned as Lewandowski scores an easy tap-in.
Grosskreutz is coming more and more into this now. He gets on the end of a Reus ball across the edge of the box but slices wide.
Werder now have to open up a little more, and there is already more of a gap in their defence, with Dortmund responding by playing a little more directly. No joy as yet, but they should start to get some as the game stretches which it surely will.
Dortmund continue to press and it is looking increasingly likely that they will add to their lead shortly.
The goal has buoyed the fans and the players on the pitch are responding with Dortmund continuing to press furiously. Arnautovic has the ball on the left but the pressure from Blaszczykowski and Grosskreutz is too much and he wins a free kick.
BREMEN SUBS: The visitors make the first changes of the game, with former Wigan striker Franco Di Santo coming on for Marko Arnautovic and Felix Kroos replacing Mehmet Ekici. Meanwhile, Sahin puts a fine Schmelzer cross over the bar from close range.
DORTMUND SUB: Klopp responds with a change of his own, with Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on in place of Blaszczykowski.
The game is quite finely poised at the moment. Werder are certainly seeing more of the ball than Dortmund would like, but the best play is all coming from the hosts. Hunt does really well to win the ball back from Subotic after being tackled, but then overhits his pass towards Di Santo.
Klopp, on the sidelines, is not happy. In fact he's furious. He knows that this lead is oh so slender right now and the points could still disappear in a flash. He wants more pressing, with his side responding - Aubameyang drives forward but mishits his pass to Schmelzer as they had men over.
Chance for Schmelzer, who dummies on his left before shooting with his weaker right. It's blocked behind and didn't look to be threatening the goal anyway. From the corner Subotic can't quite get enough on it and instead glances is out of play.
CHANCE! Aubameyang has to score that. He bursts into the box on the right to get one-on-one, but his effort is hit at the foot of Mielitz, who makes the save. That should be 2-0.
WERDER SUB: Final change for the visitors, with Ozkan Yildirim replaced by Dutch winger Eljero Elia.
There's nowhere for Werder to go, despite them having more of the ball in the last five minutes. Dortmund have had 28 shots now - they really should be home and dry.
Dortmund are now playing on the break. Sub and last week's matchwinner Jonas Hofmann, who has just come on, drives down the right and his cross is blocked behind.
OFF THE LINE! It was Mkhitaryan who came off for Hofmann, by the way. Hummels flicks on the corner and Lewandowski prods goalwards, but hunt it there to hack it off the line - for the second time in the match.
SAVE! Schmelzer hacks clear towards Lewandowski, but Kroos is in to pinch the ball. Werder break and Di Santo strikes from an angle, which forced Weidenfeller into a fine flying save.
DORTMUND SUB: Final change for the hosts as Sven Bender is on for Reus, whose effort today deserved a goal at least. Klopp is shutting up for the night, then.
There will be three minutes of time added on. It shouldn't only have a goal in it, really, but it will surely be nine points from nine as Lewandowski is flagged offside.
It's not long ball stuff from Werder, with Prodl, the tallest man on the pitch, lumped up front.
FULL-TIME! Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Werder Bremen
So it's Dortmund who maintain their 100% record and Bremen follow up two 1-0 wins with a defeat by the same score. Dortmund stay top.
That's all from me for tonight's Bundesliga action. Thanks for being here, and please do stick around on site for the latest results and reaction from tonight's games. Goodbye!
