Borussia Dortmund extended their unbeaten run at Signal Iduna Park to ten matches across all competitions (W9, D1), but they needed a stoppage-time winner to claim three hard-fought points against a resilient Cologne side.

Cologne arrived in fine form, having collected 11 points from their opening seven Bundesliga matches — the best tally by a newly-promoted club in the past eight seasons — and they showed that confidence early on. Eric Martel glanced a header wide before heroically denying Dortmund at the other end, producing a superb block to stop Waldemar Anton’s goal-bound effort in the 10th minute.

It was a frenetic opening period, and the visitors should have struck first when Said El Mala, recalled to the starting XI in place of Luca Waldschmidt, raced through on goal. However, the midfielder dragged his shot wide to the visible frustration of coach Lukas Kwasniok.

Dortmund gradually grew into the contest, and Karim Adeyemi almost broke the deadlock before the interval, turning past Cenk Özkacar only to be thwarted by a brilliant stop from Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe.

After the break, Dortmund’s persistence continued to meet a wall of resistance in Schwäbe. Serhou Guirassy’s close-range effort was somehow kept out by the Cologne shot-stopper, who then produced another outstanding fingertip save to tip Felix Nmecha’s powerful strike over the bar. Even Julian Ryerson’s curling free-kick couldn’t beat him, as the keeper’s inspired display looked set to earn the visitors a valuable point.

However, the drama was far from over. In the dying moments, Schwäbe again denied Julian Brandt, but Dortmund refused to give in. Deep into stoppage time, substitute Maximilian Beier pounced inside the box, firing through a defender’s legs — and those of a helpless Schwäbe — to finally snatch victory for the hosts.

The late winner lifted Dortmund into third place, leapfrogging Stuttgart, though they remain seven points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich.

As for Cologne, their wait for back-to-back away wins since May 2023 continues, but their performance once again underlined their progress — and with a European spot still within reach, Kwasniok’s men will take plenty of encouragement from this narrow defeat.