Good to see you topping the table! Hopefully you can hold on to this lead

Cappy13- Thanks man it's great to hear that!

Justice- Oh I have a funny feeling we will.

Matchday 6 showdown as Dortmund face rock bottom Basel

After a 2-1 loss on the previous UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Matchday at Arsenal Borussia Dortmund must win to be sure of finishing first in Group A. With only top spot in the Group to be decided there is little drama anticipated. The Bundesliga leaders will go up against the only Swiss side in the competition (FC Basel) who are rock bottom and will stay there regardless of the result.

Dortmund need to bounce back from their UCL defeat and take the 1st place position.

Arsenal will travel to France to take on 3rd placed Lille, the French side will play Europa League football in the New Year. They will doubtless be pleased with their performance in the UCL this season and had they had a bit more fortune they could be top of the group. Arsenal put themselves right back in contention for the 1st placed position with a Matchday 5 win over Dortmund at the Emirates Stadium. Relations between the two have deteriorated dramatically over recent seasons and Arsenal midfielder Nemo Mezut Ozil hasn't done anything to help this with his post match comments after the Gunners 2-1 win.

'Apologies to the Dortmund fans for us winning this group and minimizing their chances of progression and I know the were shocked we beat them it will mean we progress and I am confident that we can easily win this competition.

'Of course I don't hate Dortmund.'

A very assertive and rather cocky comment from Ozil, of course with his Schalke04 past he was never going to be complementary of this particular opponent and the feelings between this certain player and supporters have never been great yet this latest dig in a series of past jabs and hits on each other.

Basel manager Paulo Sousa has also taken to the media to get his opinion across with a battle cry for Basel fans to help the team to a win. 'Yes we're out but I'm counting on our loyal supporters to help gee the players up for this and spur us on so we leave the competition with at least one win.'

Sousa wants to hear a 'battle cry' from the fans in Germany against Dortmund.

BvB manager Mats Iconic hasn't attended the previous three Press Conferences leaving his assistant Zeljko Buvac to take the reins in the customary meeting the media. Buvac stating 'We are all happy and confident in our own ability to win matches and we will make sure we win. The players know their roles and what it is they have to do, so if we execute that the way I and Mathias know we can then we will win.'

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Buvac is happy with the progress of BvB.

Team News

Now it's onto team news for the match, neither side have any real injury concerns and Dortmund have Sven Bender returning to the line up after missing the trip to Arsenal with one match suspension and will have a full strength side available with the exception of Roman Weidenfeller who picked up a knock to his hand in training and tipped to start is Timo Horn who will get another chance to prove he should start over Weidenfeller. Doubts have been cast over whether Basel's attacking starlets Fabien Frei and Marco Streller can shake off their injuries in time for the game, Streller with a strain in his back and a strained calf for Frei.

Basel must get their strikeforce fit if they are to beat Dortmund.

So will it be Arsenal or Dortmund walking away with top spot in Group A? Leave your predictions below, thanks as ever for reading peace guys.

Good luck against Basel, btw, you are really going good in league so, keep it up mate!

December; Mind the gap Rob!

As we end 2014 we will end it top of the table and leading by seven points ahead of FC Bayern Munchen. Who after two 0-0 draw against Koln and Schalke enabled us top capitalise with wins over Hamburger SV and SC Freiburg. The year ended with a dramatic encounter in Berlin with a late Adrian Ramos goal giving us all three points in a pulsating game but I shan't give to much away and will leave you to read what else has happened so far.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Matchday 6

The Showdown: Borussia Dortmund 2-0 FC Basel

We were able to top our UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE group after another win over Basel and a late Simo Kjaer leveller ensured that we would finish top by two points. We took the lead after two minutes when Adrian Ramos kept a hopeless long ball from Henrik Mkhitaryan in the pitch dummied a shot before simply laying it off for Ilkay Gundogan to power in. Ramos then had a great chance to score himself on seventeen but couldn't direct the shot near enough on target as Vaclik was able to see the ball wide. Seven minutes later though we doubled our advantage with a simply beautiful goal, it started from a quick throw in taken by Nathaniel Clyne who threw it to Mkhitrayan and quick as a flash backhealed the ball to Marco Reus who with a brilliant feint bamboozled Marcelo Diaz leaving Ashley Young free to curl the ball into the bottom right corner. Try as we may we couldn't get anything past the Basel keeper Tomas Vaclik was determined to not let anything past him and on seventy minute prevented Tammo Harder from scoring a incredible solo goal after skipping past several Basel player and dinking a superb shot at the top right corner but Vaclik made an incredible one handed save to tip the ball over the bar. But we able to control the game and keep Basel from scoring any as we progress through into the Last 16 as Group winners.

Group A final table

Bundesliga Matchdays 14-17

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Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Wolfsburg

Our taste for early goals was shown as we scored after ten minutes through Henrik Mkhitaryan, a very scrappy goal from a corner to say the least, Erik Durm and Mkhitaryan both attempted to get up for the same ball and it bobbled down onto the ground and the Armenian managed to poke home a deflected shot and give us the lead. The second was the polar opposite of the first and Marco Reus crashed home the latest in a series of brilliant free kicks with the ball smashing the crossbar's underside on the way in. 3-0 was a brilliant pass and move football with Reus sliding the ball to Immobile to fire in through Diego Benaglio's legs. The fourth goal was a very controversial penalty which at best appeared to be Ilkay Gundogan tripping over and taking Josh Guilavogui with him, Reus didn't let that faze him though and coolly slotted the penalty into the bottom left corner narrowly avaiding the arms of Benaglio. Wolfsburg were by no means played off the park though and made several good passing moves but just couldn't get their final pass right.

Hamburger SV 1-2 Borussia Dortmund

An uncomfortably tight match against Hamburg who were an extremely tough nut to crack but played some good football and can be proud of their performance against us especially captain Rafa Van der Vaart who pulled the strings for the hosts in midfield. They did take a while to settle though and on six minutes that showed as Cleber dawdled on the ball and let Henrik Mkhitaryan go clean through but our Armenian midfield man scuffed his shot wide. On thirty four minutes Hamburg made another error as they failed to clear our corner and Mats Hummels poked home a tap in to give us the lead. Just two minutes later though Van der Vaart gave young USA ace Julian Green a great opportunity but Nathaniel Clyne prevented him from getting a cross away and snuck away with the ball leaving Green with a lot of explaining to do as he floundered on the floor screaming for a penalty. Green certainly had nothing to appeal on fifty five minutes when, unmarked, he nodded past Roman Weidenfeller from a corner to put the score level. We don't give up though and Marco Reus had a free kick well saved on seventy minutes but Henrik Mkhitaryan made up for his early missed chance by pouncing on Alexander Brunst-Zollner's parry to socre the winner. Ten minutes after a great team goal allowed Adrian Ramos a great chance to make it 3-1 and seal it but Zollner made great save showing strong hands to save as Slovodan Rajkovic cleared his lines. And Hamburg almost equalised two minutes before the allotted ninety minutes of football but Nicolai Muller didn't connect with his shot at all. We weren't at our best but a win is a win and one that put us five points clear at the top.

Borussia Dortmund 3-1 SC Freiburg

We knew going into this game that a win would see us go seven points ahead of Bayern at the top (they had drawn 0-0 with Koln earlier in the day) and we settled any nerves there may have been by taking the lead after nine minutes through Marco Reus from the penalty spot. Ezequiel Rescaldani took down a lofted pass beautifully and jinked through the Freiburg defence before spotting Ashley Young who pulled his leg back to shoot and...thwack! Was kicked from behind by experienced full-back Sascha Riether and referee Felix Brych had no option but to point to the spot. Undisputed penalty taker Marco Reus was handed the ball by Rescaldani, Reus steadied himself and threw Sebastian Mielitz a curve ball by going straight down the middle instead of his custom bottom corner. On twenty minutes Reus hit another incredible free kick onto the Freiburg crossbar and eight minutes after that Mielitz was again called into action when he fingered Ashley Young's shot over the goal. On the thirty fifth minute Young was again in the thick of the action and squared the ball to Ezequiel Rescaldani for the Argentine to smash in only his second goal of the season. Rescaldani got his second of the game with a bullet header two minutes after the hour mark, from a floated cross off the right boot of Marco Reus Rescaldani towered over three Freiburg defenders like a human helicopter to nod home and wrap up the game. On eight two minutes Maximillian Phillip netted Freiburg's consolation goal with a wonder strike which was cracked in off Weidenfeller's right hand post.

Hertha Berlin 2-3 Borussia Dortmund

A thrilling end to the year in the capital with a brilliant show of character and belief from both teams, Hertha never gave up and that's what made the game brilliant. The game started well enough for us, Mats Hummels volleyed a goal that any striker would proud of from a Ashley Young free kick. Seventy seven minutes and Ezequiel Rescaldani scored his third goal in two games with a cheeky dink over Thomas Kraft to show he's bang in form. A minute after and Soloman Kalou curled a superb effort along the floor and pulled a goal back for Hertha, surely they wern't going to ruin the Christmas and New Year celebrations by helping Bayern cut our seven point lead to five...or four were they? Turns out they were and with just ten minutes on the clock Anais Ben-Hatira hit an absolutely world class free kick well beyond the helpless Roman Weidenfeller. It looked as though we were heading for a disappointing 2-2 draw, but with just thirty seconds on the clock Milos Jojic found Erik Durm and well...I'll let Gary Preston take it from here.

'And it's Jojic...ooh he's found Durm, surely not they won't score now surely! Durm with the croooosss...OOOHHH ITTTTTTSSSS IINN. ADRIIIIIIIIAAAANN RAMMOOOOSSS, WHAT A STORY, WHAT...A...STORY AND IT'S ADRIAN RAMOS ON HIS RETURN TO BERLIN HE'S SCORED WHAT MUST BE THE WINNER!!! IT LOOKED OVER BUT THEY DIDN'T GIVE IN DURM WITH A WONDER CROSS AND RAMOS FIRING IT IN. WELL THIS IS ONE OF THE GAMES OF THE SEASON!! ON-OF-THE-BEST GAMES IN BUNDESLIGA HISTORY PERHAPS?!?!'

As I said a dramatic end to the year and one I'm sure had you been watching it you'd have been on the edge of your seat for those last few moments.

Player of the Month

Now I could give this month's award to Ezequiel Rescaldani, or Mats Hummels or even Ashley Young, but for the second month in a row Marco Reus claims the award and deservedly so. With his free kicks, assists, goals, dribbling and just all round quality spearheading our attack and being a key player in our push for glory.

League Table

So for the last time in 2014 here is the Bundesliga table with Dortmund topping the table by seven points Bayern and Gladbach have a mountain to climb if they are to catch Dortmund, whereas at the bottom Paderborn and bremen look doomed eleven and nine points from safety. But with Bayern seven points adrift of BvB will Lewandowski live to regret his move to Munchen?


Nemo Ozil was left eating his words.

It was a surprisingly easy victory over big spending Wolfsburg.

Rescaldani is beginning to prove his worth after a brilliant end to the month.

Great results mate, I believe that you are now unstoppable, keep it up!

Great results mate! Keep it up!

Great results keep up the good work

All above comments- Thanks guys your support really means a lot I'm massively ahead of schedule on this story as in challenging Bayern like this in season one was not my target! But thanks guys and hopefully I'll end up with a Bundesliga by the end of the season.

Three Ballon D'Or front runners analysed

With the 2014 Ballon D'Or winner is soon to be announced and as well as the two Goliath nominees in Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Borussia Dortmund's star Marco Reus is the player that stands between CR7 and the Flea's chances of winning the award for the best player over the last twelve months of football worldwide. With competition reaching fever pitch we analyse the top three nominees.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Last years winner Cristiano Ronaldo has almost everything he could have done to win the award again, except an awful World Cup performance in which he was injured throughout. In twenty five appearances he has twenty goals and added to that the fourty six he got last season and it's looking good for CR7 to retain his title as the best in the world. He's also been much more of a team player this term as well with twelve assists to his credit, its looks like 'Cris' becomes more of a team player every passing year.

Stats

Appearances: 25

Goals: 20

Assists: 12

Average Rating: 7.87

Odds to win: 3/1

Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is probably the only man on the planet who can realistically rival Ronaldo for the Ballon D'Or, the record four time winner has his sights set on a fifth 'Golden Ball' but will need a hefty stroke of fortune to win. The Flea's season has been injury hit and has spent a total of two months out injured with hamstring trouble (missing ten of Barca's matches in all competitions) but has been in clinical form scoring fifteen goals in nineteen matches. Five assists is not his best haul but his teammates have hardly been scoring for this term the Catalan's second top scorer, Neymar, has managed just six in all competitions. With an average rating of 8.13 Messi has hardly played a game below a an outstanding level and will prove pivotal in Barcelona's quest for yet more silverware.

Stats

Appearances: 19

Goals: 15

Assists: 5

Average Rating: 8.13

Odds to win: 7/1

Marco Reus

The proverbial 'runner on the shoulder' this year is Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus, who has been back top his best after a hit and miss 2013/14 and ruptured Achilles tendon. With ten goals and sixteen assists Reus is BvB's top scorer and has shown his full array of abilities this term. Proving Dortmund's match winner in several occasions he's had to raise his game after the emergence of Tammo Harder and form of loan signing Ashley Young. One factor that goes against 'Rolls Reus' is that he's very much part of a team at Dortmund and players like Roman Weidenfeller, Mats Hummels, Henrik Mkhitaryan and Ashley Young deserve equal credit

Stats

Appearances: 23

Goals: 10

Assists: 16

Average Rating: 7.63

Odds to win: 15/1

Author's Note

I wanted to do this update to show that Reus is now considered one of the very best, January transfers to come shortly, maybe leave a prediction as who is to come where?

January Transfers

Transfers In

It was a good month for Borussia Dortmund in terms of the players the club brought in, signing three players. The first two were announced on the opening day of 2015 with Dortmund making Ashley Young's loan spell permanent for £5,750,000 and beefing up the attacking options with the acquisition of French hotshot Alexandre Lacazette from Olympique Lyonnais for just £8,000,000.

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Young made his loan move permanent after some top class displays.

There was however still the problem of another defensive midfielder but that was solved on January twenty fifth as Argentine international Lucas Romero swapped Velez for Dortmund in a whopping £15,000,000 move, the price tag was not of a concern to Mats Iconic though.

'I don't what the surprise is about, Lucas played well against us and should help push Sven to be even better as well as being part of our first team for the next ten to twelve years.'

Romero has a lot expected of him at Dortmund, and only time will tell if he can live up to the hype.

Dortmund's final buy of the window came on deadline day the signing of Belgian prospect Dennis Praet was announced, he'll join BvB after the current 2014/15 season playing for Anderlecht in the Belgian Pro League.

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Signed on a bosman freebie, Praet will play out the current campaign at Anderlecht, the young Belgian promises to add even more creativity to the BvB midfield next term.

Transfers Out

Dortmund needed to move players on after those purchases and did so, selling Ji Dong Won and Nuri Sahin within the first two days of the window (for £3,900,000 and £8,000,000 respectively) and after loaning out a few academy prospects the most surprising deal by far came after Ciro Immobile packed his bags to Spain and sealed a dream move to UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE holders Real Madrid for an £8,000,000 fee, the misfiring Italian scored just four goals in fourteen appearances. This decision has not been taken well by the fans, most believing that Immobile needed more time, but Lacazette's arrival there was little option to remove a striker and Immobile was the unlucky one.

Immobile couldn't quite find his feet at Dortmund, ultimately costing him his place.

Reus 'happy to be in the top bracket'

Marco Reus was beaten to second by Lionel Mesi in the 2014 Ballon D'Or awards by one hundred and fifteen votes, with Cristiano Ronaldo claiming the award for another year. Reus was in a reflective mood after the game and allowed a few questions from the media stating.



'I was a little bit surprised that I was one of the front runners, but it's a great experience to be mixing it with the very best and I think if I steer clear of injuries and build on this then I can have a great chance at winning it next year. I think Ronaldo deserved it, he did milk it a bit with the shout, of si I think? Anyway I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, I'd be a bit different myself if I won it but I don't want to get dragged into something where it'll seem like I'm trying to be disrespectful when I'm not.'

some great moves there man! Lacazette and Romero in particular! will be interesting to see how Praet does for you too

January; Cementing top spot

January saw a great start to the year with seven goals scored and none conceded our new arrivals managed to settle quite well and we showed yet more defensive resilience, along with our free scoring form keeping true. It has helped us maintain the gap at the top to seven points, showing that as the months wear on we look ever more likely to stay in first.

Bundesliga Matchdays 18-20

VFB Stuutgart 0-1 Borussia Dortmund

After a tense encounter on the second Matchday (in which Stuttgart won 2-1 courtesy of a Vedad Ibisevic brace) I was anxious for revenge and we managed that after Adrian Ramos lashed home a rebounded shot of the crossbar from a Ilkay Gundogan free-kick. in a game dominated by the hosts, we attempted to play on the breakaway and snatch what we could, little else of not happened until the fourty seventh minute where Adrian Ramos made a brilliant turn to lob the ball onto the bar, leaving Sven Ulreich stranded, as Christian Genter cleared. By seventy minutes Stuttgart were pummeling us with possession football and an incredible double save from Roman Weidenfeller effectively won us the points, saving from point blank range from Ibisevic, he then somehow managed to tip Martin Harnik's shot onto the post, as the Stuttgart players, fans and staff could only look on, shellshocked. That was the last highlight of the game, we shouldn't have won but we did and you need to grind out wins sometimes and that's what we've done.

Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen04

This victory tasted extremely sweet, after being robed of a deserved three points last time out the team was baying for Bayer blood and we took the lead inside the first twenty minutes. After Bayer04 rode their look through several attacks Alex Lacazette took three bites of the cherry to score, but could not succeed, instead it was Armenian Henrik Mkhitaryan who raced in to thump an outside of the boot shot into the bottom right hand corner of Leno's goal sending the Germany under twenty one international to the left. Just a few moments later though and Hakan Calhanoglu crashed the crossbar and Stefan Keissling was narrowly beaten to the ball by Milos Jojic. On the twenty seventh minute mark Jojic was again in the thick of it, winning a clear penalty after captain Lars Bender pushed him hard in the chest, giving the referee little option but to award the kick from twelve yards. Up stepped Marco Reus to convert the penalty kick, he hit the ball low, hard and true and it just beat Leno for sheer pace-sneaking under his body in the process. Leverkusen had little chances and when they did they normally wasted them handsomely, but we weren't exactly clinical ourselves, Lacazette repeatedly failed in putting the ball in the back of the net and Reus had a shot blocked on the line by Leno seven minutes from the end. A very good performance, one to build on and up next was Bremen at home...

Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Werder Bremen

We always felt confident going into this game and we took the lead against a tactically weak Bremen team low on confidence after just five minutes. Marco Reus used his electric pace to full extent and turned two Bremen defenders before hitting a weak shot at Raif Husic who let the ball slip through his hands and into the goal. The second was an absolutely incredible goal which I really can't quite describe but I will try nonetheless, Ashley Young took down a hopeful long ball and teased Theodor Gebre Selassie into a tackle, just as the Czech was about to make the tackle he drove past him, then skipped over a Phillip Bagfrede challenge and crashed the ball in off the underside of the crossbar, truly a goal of the season contender right there. Our third was the first goal for Lucas Romero and it was an excellent team goal showcasing everything good about our passing game, Clyne played a one-two with Reus and gave Mkhitaryan the ball, the Armenian put the ball in Romero's feet which allowed the Argentine to delicately chip the ball over Husic and into the net. By the time of out fourth goal it was almost the end of the game and there was about to be an absolutely awful decision by the referee, Ezequiel Rescaldani had a shot blocked and as Ashley Young sprinted past Marnon Busch a penalty was given, through no apparent reason, yet there were little Bremen appeals as the game was pretty much dead anyway. Reus tucked away the spot kick with ease, lashing it to the right beyond the outstretched arms of Husic and scored our fourth and final goal.

Player of the month

This months award goes to Armenian playmaker Henrikh Mkitaryan, he's been even better than in previous months and always provides the attackers with a chance, and he can pop up with a goal or several, as you saw against Bayer Leverkusen. Also vital in getting assists for us he assisted Romero's first ever goal for us, exhibiting why he's one of the first names on the team sheet.


Ramos scored yet another vital goal which helped get us the win over Stuttgart.


Mkhitaryan was at his very best this month, and scored an absolute cracker against Leverkusen.

Reus has showed the Ballon D'Or nomination was no fluke with another excellent month.

Great month, some excellent results man! Also, congrats on 10k!

February; Big games and spirit

February saw us renew our UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE quest with a trip to Spain to play Atletico de Madrid in the first leg of our Last 16 clash, another huge game came at the Allianz Arena agasint Bayern Munchen where we showed our defensive resilience. This month was not great in terms of performances but we got through it showing our credentials our very strong.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Round of 16 1st leg

Atletico de Madrid 1-1 Borussia Dortmund

Our first European game since December proved a tough test against last season's runners up Atletico. The hosts threatened from a corner after just two minutes, but Roman Weidenfeller stood firm to pluck the ball out of the air. Just as though it looked like they were to take the lead the ball broke to Henrik Mkhitaryan around twenty five yards from goal back-heeled the ball to Sven Bender and he showed that he can hit them with a brilliant crack of the ball sent it skidding across the floor and past Jan Oblak to give us an undeserved away goal. But after seventeen minutes (seven minutes after we took the lead) the scores were level once more after Sokratis' clearance hit Mandzukic and the lucky Croatian striker scored his fifteenth of the season. In injury time in the first half Ezequiel Rescaldani almost got on the end of a through but couldn't quite stretch far enough and his volley was easily held by Oblak. Eleven minutes after the break saw Mario Mandzukic shank the ball over from a seven yards out. And twenty minutes from time Alessio Cerci sliced the ball wide from some way out after ghosting past our defence. In the end an away draw is a good result and we really should have lost, but this does mean that Atletico will have to attack us in the home leg.

Bundesliga Matchdays 20-23

Hoffenheim 1-2 Borussia Dortmund

This game was our worst performance of the season as we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat thanks to a Marco Reus brace. We went down after half an hour and it was a 'comical' goal which saw Sokratis and Weidenfeller collide enabling Pirmin Schwegler to slam home the rebound. Two minutes after that and only a late Mats Hummels block denied Adam Szalai. Late in the first half we managed to pull the scores level again, Nathaniel Clyne feined a cross and gave the ball short to Marco Reus who curled a majestic shot in off the post. But after just fifty seconds of second half football Roberto Firmino was put through but had his shot saved by Weidenfeller who amazingly managed to save the rebound Szalai, as he parried the ball over the bar. Five minutes after that, we took the lead from the penalty spot- Alexandre Lacazette aggressively hacked down just inside the area by Tobias Strobl who made no attempt to get the ball, but merely to foul Lacazette. Reus made an unusual stutter in his run up but that didn't deter the affect of his penalty as he sent it straight into the top right corner with both laser accuracy and incredible power. Hoffenheim did have one more attack though, Andreas had a golden chance after he was put through and Weidenfeller didn't close the angle but hit the shot wayward with the outside of his boot and miles away from the target. This was a game that we did not deserve to win but we did showing we can grind out results like any other side.

Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Hannover96

This game needed a much more battling performance to break down a stubborn but well structured Hannover side, the game took a awhile to come to life but after about an hour of slogging away we finally managed to show our quality. The task was not made any easier after seventy six minutes as we were reduced to ten men after the sending off of Sven Bender for two bookable offences. But we scored just four minutes later, after some neat footwork from Adrian Ramos gave the Colombian enough space to thread the ball to Marco Reus who delicately chipped Ron Robert Zieler. Just seconds before the added time would be announced Marco Reus took three bites of the cherry to score before squaring it too Ezequiel Rescaldani and of course he made no mistake tapping it in to seal victory.

FC Bayern Munchen 0-0 Borussia Dortmund

In the crucial title decider we managed to shut out Bayern and in doing so retain our seven point lead, it wasn't pretty but it was the result we needed and I'm happy with a draw. Although Bayern dominated possession they were forced into long shots, after nine minutes Frank Ribery fired a speculative effort high and wide of the mark and ten minutes after that Bayern wasted a golden chance from a corner, first Thomas(shole) Muller flicked a header upward and then Jerome Boateng nodded the ball onto the top of the goal. After thirty four minutes our best chance of the game after Reus cut inside and his shot was diverted wide by Alexandre Lacazette, I must admit my reaction to this incident is not type-able. Three minutes after that saw Roman Weidenfeler's brilliance notched up with an incredible reflex save from a Bastian Schweinsteiger pile-driver. Bayern kept swarming all over us and three minutes after the break Muller clipped the post with a flicked volley past Weidenfeller. They may well have scored but for a tactical rethink after Javi Martinez was sent off twenty minutes from time for a reckless lunge on Henrik Mkhitaryan. With the extra man we were able to slow down the pace of the game and almost scored five minutes from time but Marco Reus walloped the ball over the bar and out. This draw wasn't a very nice way to get a win but we needed to avoid defeat and did it well, this as also the first time that we have failed to score this season, but now we don't have to play Bayern again is it our title for the taking?

Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Augsburg

We finally produced a performance of attacking intensity that we have come become accustomed to with a 3-1 over Augsburg. Sven Bender notched his second goal of the month after Reus hit a free-kick onto the bar and Clyne squared it to Bender for a simple tap in. In the first minute of first half injury time Marco Reus produced the latest in a stunning series of free kicks to smash in his seventeenth of the season. The points were wrapped up with twenty minutes of play left, Ilkay Gundogan lofted the ball over to Reus who took it down with the most intricate of touches on the outside of his left boot, if only the shot was as good but his scuffed effort did find its way into the net for our third goal. Unfortunately Mats Hummels was left red faced after an embarrassing error allowed Shawn Parker a fluke goal, Hummels dispossessed Parker but hit a panicky clearance straight at the young German, the ball cannoned back off his head and past a bewildered Roman Weidenfeller as Parker wheeled away in celebration. Still that was a small blot on our record this month and nothing came of this goal leaving us to celebrate another league win.

Player of the month

This month's award goes to non other than Sven Bender, he popped up with key goals against Augsburg and Atletico and was a tackling machine yet again this month despite the red card against Hannover (which was ludicrous refereeing if you ask me) he didn't let it stop him from doing what he does best, his aggressive gung-ho style of defending suits us so well. Well played Sven, you deserve it!

League Table

Reus was simply stunning against Hoffeheim digging us out of a rather big hole.

But was largely ineffective against Bayern.

'Team spirit' the team celebrates Sven Bender's goal.

Aand Roman Weidenfeller was at his brilliant best to shut out Bayern.