Beier's late strike sends Borussia Dortmund top of Bundesliga

Dortmund secured a 1-0 win at VfB Stuttgart, taking Niko Kovač's side to four wins from four.

Beier, 19 goals into his Dortmund career since arriving in August 2024, did the rest, while Felix Nmecha, the hero of last weekend's win over Paderborn, started again in central midfield for the visitors.

And Bilal El Khannouss headed narrowly wide before the break. Dortmund held on from there.

The win, coming as Freiburg dropped points earlier in the day, sends Dortmund to 12 points, two clear of both Bayern and Freiburg. It is the club's best opening to a Bundesliga season in 11 years — the last four-win start came in 2015/16, before that in 2013/14 and 2001/02. Dortmund last topped the table after matchday 33 of 2022/23, when they led Bayern by two points with one round to go, only to draw 2-2 with Mainz after trailing 0-2.

The result leaves Stuttgart still short of the pace they wanted in the chase for Europe, having now lost two of their first three league games this season.