Niko Kovac credited his Borussia Dortmund team for their second-half improvement as they left it late to snatch all three points away to Stuttgart on Saturday. 

Kovac watched on as his team looked set to fall further behind Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich, who themselves won in dramatic fashion against Freiburg earlier in the day. 

But goals in second-half stoppage time from substitutes Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt sealed a 2-0 win at MHPArena, helping BVB consolidate second place in the table.

In a low-key affair, Dortmund were only able to muster an expected goals (xG) total of 0.07 in the first half, with one of their two shots forcing Alexander Nubel into a save.

And though their xG total only improved to 0.61 by full-time, Kovac's side were able to limit Stuttgart to one attempt on target, as the hosts generated an xG tally of 0.21. 

The Opta supercomputer has now assigned Dortmund a 99.6% chance of finishing the season in second place, with their latest win keeping them 11 points clear of third spot. 

"The match was characterised by the fact that neither team wanted to lose," Kovac told Dortmund's official website. 

"We wanted to consolidate second place and Stuttgart wanted to pull ahead of the teams below them. As a result, it certainly wasn't a thrilling spectacle.

"It wasn't easy in the first half. We weren't getting stuck into the challenges. And if you can't win challenges and don't win second balls, then you don't have possession either.

"When we did have it, we lost it straight away. In the second half, we defended better and waited for our chance. Our last two moves then helped ensure it ended well for us."

Following the goals from Adeyemi and Brandt, BVB have now scored 14 times via substitutes in the Bundesliga this season, the joint-most alongside Vincent Kompany's Bayern. 

But perhaps more importantly, Dortmund registered their 13th clean sheet in the league in 2025-26, at least three more than the second-highest total (10 by four different teams).

And key to their shutout was Nico Schlotterbeck, who ended with team-high totals for clearances (six), possession won (six) and accurate passes (34), while only Jobe Bellingham (seven) won more duels than the German defender's five. 

"Stuttgart really pinned us back. In the 90th minute, we took the two chances we had and won with a bit of luck," Schlotterbeck added. 

"It's been like this all season because we play with the right mentality.

"We've kept another clean sheet, and we did so in Stuttgart, where hardly any other teams have managed to get one."