Dortmund extend Bundesliga lead
Champions Borussia Dortmund opened a three-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga after a 2-0 win at Nuremberg on Friday stretched their unbeaten run to 14 league games.
On a freezing Bavarian evening, with temperatures hovering around -15 Celsius, captain Sebastian Kehl gave his team a deserved lead in the 48th minute when he slotted the ball in with his left foot following a Lukasz Piszczek layoff.
Paraguay international Lucas Barrios, who turned down several offers of a move earlier this week, snatched his first goal of the season 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute, tapping in from two metres in the 82nd.
Dortmund, on a four-match winning streak, have 43 points from 20 matches. They are three points ahead of Bayern Munich, who travel to Hamburg SV on Saturday, and Schalke 04, who host Mainz the same day.
Nuremberg made a promising start and twice went close in the opening minutes through Tomas Pekhart before Dortmund upped the tempo to create a string of scoring chances.
The only sour note for coach Juergen Klopp's team was an ankle injury sustained by Sven Bender that forced the midfielder off early in the game.
"It was not easy for us today and that makes this win all the more special," Klopp told reporters. "Nuremberg were only really dangerous on set pieces and we had to be patient."
Nuremberg are 14th on 21 points after recording their second straight defeat.