A weekend postponement had extended Werder Bremen’s winter break, and they certainly looked fresher in the opening minutes as Justin Njinmah tested Gregor Kobel and Marco Grüll sent a dipping strike from range just over the bar.
But Dortmund grew into the game, and after Carney Chukwuemeka and Fabio Silva worked beautifully in tandem to win a corner, Julian Ryerson produced a wonderful delivery for Nico Schlotterbeck to nod home in the 11th minute.
As in their six-goal thriller in Frankfurt on Friday, Die Borussen continued to concede chances, letting Njinmah beat the offside trap soon after, and only Kobel standing tall kept the hosts ahead.
That chance in the 18th minute would be the last effort on target at either end for another 18 minutes, when a speculative Marcel Sabitzer shot from distance was clutched by Mio Nagata, as the first half petered out, not that Dortmund would have minded, as four of their previous five Bundesliga home wins had seen them lead 1-0 at half-time
Die Grun-Weiben had the better of the opening minutes of the second half, as Kobel had to be alert at his near post to a Romano Schmid effort.
But again, that pressure couldn’t be sustained, and 10 minutes after the restart, the hosts had a great chance to score a second when Silva played Beier in, but Nagata reacted well to the initial effort, and neither attacker could turn the ball home on the follow-up.
The hosts next went close when Sabitzer drilled a first-time effort a whisker over the top from 20 yards, but there was still just one goal in it as the match entered its final quarter.
But with 15 minutes to play, Horst Steffen’s side failed to heed Sabitzer’s warning, as they gave the Austrian enough space at the edge of the box to strike a bouncing ball sweetly into the bottom corner.
Dortmund had won their previous two home games 2-0, but they ended that sequence on their own terms late on, when Jobe Bellingham blocked Amos Pieper’s attempted clearance from his own area, allowing Serhou Guirassy to pick up the loose ball and roll it past Nagata.
It’s a 10th win of the season for the side sitting second, and nine of those have come with a clean sheet. Werder, meanwhile, have lost all four away games against teams beginning this round in the top eight by at least a two-goal margin.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund)
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