Rot-Weiss Essen 0-1 Borussia Dortmund: Guirassy the hero in DFB-Pokal victory

Serhou Guirassy was Borussia Dortmund's man of the hour as his 79th-minute goal sealed a 1-0 win over Rot-Weiss Essen in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. 

Niko Kovac's side were made to work for their triumph over third-tier opposition, with the victory coming at a cost after a nasty-looking injury to Yan Couto late on. 

The Bundesliga giants threatened early on with Marcel Sabitzer and Felix Nmecha testing Essen goalkeeper Jakob Golz inside the first five minutes of the contest. 

Dortmund's best chance of the first half fell to Guirassy, who forced a smart stop from Golz while Gregor Kobel had to be alert at the other end to deny Ramien Safi one-on-one. 

Their struggles in the final third saw Kovac turn to his bench on the hour, with summer signing Jobe Bellingham and the experienced Julian Brandt introduced into the action.

However, it was last season's top scorer who sealed Dortmund's progression, with Guirassy collecting Ramy Bensebaini's pass before placing the ball in the bottom-right corner 11 minutes from time. 

The win ended on a sour note, however, with Couto leaving the pitch on a stretcher after being caught high by a reckless, studs-up challenge from Kelsey Owusu, who only received a yellow card.

Data Debrief: Guirassy up and running

Dortmund enjoyed a revival towards the end of last season to finish fourth in the Bundesliga, thanks in part to the goalscoring of Guirassy, who opened his account for the new campaign here. 

Indeed, in the 2025 calendar year, Guirassy has now scored 27 goals in 32 matches across all competitions for Dortmund, at least five more goals than any other Bundesliga player has managed during that time. 

But Dortmund will want an improved performance in their top-flight opener away to St. Pauli this Saturday, having registered an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.86 from their 13 shots compared to Essen's 0.92 from their 12 attempts.