Borussia Dortmund make it four straight wins, beating Stuttgart 1-0 through Maximilian Beier

Borussia Dortmund are four for four. A single goal from Maximilian Beier settled a tight, cagey afternoon at the MHPArena, sending Niko Kovač's side above SC Freiburg and to the top of the Bundesliga table heading into the international break — the club's best start to a league campaign in eleven years.

For long spells this looked like the game that would finally slow Dortmund down. Stuttgart's high press caused problems throughout the first half, and neither side could turn territory into a clear chance before the interval. After the break, Ethan Nwaneri thought he had broken the deadlock for Dortmund but saw the goal chalked off for offside — the kind of moment that, on another day, might have been the difference between a routine winning margin and the nervous finish Dortmund ultimately had to see out.

Bellingham's introduction changes the game

Kovač turned to Jobe Bellingham off the bench, and the substitution paid off almost immediately. Bellingham's low cross found Beier in the 70th minute, and the forward finished from close range for what proved to be the winner. It was Beier's third shot of the match and enough for 49% of the fan vote to hand him Man of the Match, ahead of a Stuttgart side that pressed hard for an equaliser without finding one.

"Maxi Beier isn't with the national team, but today he was the one who scored. I'm thrilled for him, and it ultimately shows that we have a great squad and a great player in Maxi, and that he has rewarded himself with this goal today."

— Niko Kovač, Borussia Dortmund head coach

Kovač's line was a pointed one — Beier had just been left out of the extended Germany squad for the international break, and answered it by scoring the goal that took his club top of the table. The numbers back up how close the game actually was: Opta's expected-goals model had Dortmund on 1.72 to Stuttgart's 0.87, a narrower gap than the eventual scoreline might suggest for a match settled by one moment of quality rather than a one-sided afternoon.

Match facts

• 70' — Maximilian Beier (Borussia Dortmund), assisted by Jobe Bellingham
• Ethan Nwaneri (Borussia Dortmund) had a second-half goal ruled out for offside

A perfect run to the international break

This is Dortmund's fourth straight Bundesliga win, following wins over Hamburger SV, Hoffenheim and SC Paderborn 07, and it comes on the back of a midweek-adjacent stretch that also included a Champions League win over Villarreal. The only blemish on an otherwise perfect run across competitions remains the German Super Cup defeat to Bayern Munich in August, which does not count toward the league table.

Dortmund had opened matchday 4 second in the table on 9 points, level with Freiburg but behind on goal difference. The win at Stuttgart takes them above Freiburg — who dropped points earlier in the round — and top of the Bundesliga for the first time this season, with four wins out of four and just two goals conceded across those matches. For a squad that lost the German Super Cup in August, the response since has been about as emphatic as it gets.

What's next for Stuttgart

Stuttgart's afternoon summed up their season so far: competitive, occasionally impressive in patches, but short of the end product needed to turn performances into points. Sebastian Hoeneß's side had opened the round 14th in the table on 3 points from three games, having lost to Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim either side of a 4-1 win over Cologne, and this defeat leaves them still searching for the consistency that briefly looked to be forming after the Cologne result. They now have the international break to regroup before the next round of fixtures, with points from three of their opening four Bundesliga matches still to find.