Julian Brandt scored for the fourth successive league game as Borussia Dortmund moved top of the Bundesliga with a 1-0 victory at Hoffenheim.
Brandt used his back to divert Marco Reus’ free-kick into the net two minutes before half-time.
It was the attacking midfielder’s ninth goal of the season and stretches Dortmund’s winning run in all competitions to nine games.
Dortmund’s Marius Wolf also had a second-half effort disallowed by VAR.
Wolf steered Brandt’s pass into the top corner but after consulting his pitchside monitor, referee Martin Petersen ruled the goal out for Nico Schlotterbeck’s foul on Ihlas Bebou earlier in the move.
Jude Bellingham nearly doubled Dortmund’s lead in second-half added time but the England midfielder’s shot was tipped onto the post by Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.
The last time Borussia won their first seven Bundesliga games of a calendar year was in 2012 – the year they last won the league.
Bundesliga title rivals Bayern Munich and Union Berlin – who meet at the Allianz Arena on Sunday – are three points behind Dortmund with a game in hand, but Bayern’s vastly superior goal difference means they would return to the top of the table with a win.
Hoffenheim drop into the relegation play-off spot after slipping to a fifth successive league defeat.
