Dortmund find form with Kramer's help

When it was all over, Borussia Dortmund celebrated. And not just as if they had had won a pretty ordinary Bundesliga match.

In their faces, with their gestures, you could see it was a big win. Mats Hummels, once more sidelined with a foot injury, rose from his seat, clenched his fist and triumphantly raised it into the air when referee Felix Brych blew the whistle and sealed a 1-0 home win against Bundesliga high-flyers VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach.

BVB coach Jürgen Klopp threw both arms into the air, let out a jubilant cry and then, realising what had just happened, took a deep breath. His side had ended a run of five league defeats and seven Bundesliga games without a win.

When the game started, they were bottom of the table with five fewer points from their ten domestic games than they had picked up in just four UEFA Champions League group stage matches. But what followed was not the display of strugglers.

Dortmund pressed, Dortmund transitioned and defended as well as they ever have. Numbers are not everything, yet sometimes they do tell a story. Dortmund took 22 shots this game, Gladbach just one, the fewest on record against BVB.

It was another demonstration of the iron BVB will to win that game. The official website called it: "Probably the best display by a bottom-placed club ever." Bewildered Gladbach coach Lucien Favre, whose team have been so highly praised in recent weeks, said: "They put so much pressure on us, we could hardly play at all."

While Dortmund counterattacked and defended well, one symptom of their recent miserable weeks remained – wayward finishing. They shot wide, they hit the woodwork twice and failed to beat Gladbach keeper Yann Sommer.

Christoph Kramer is comforted after his 'winner'©Getty Images

Cue Christoph Kramer. With about an hour played, the Germany midfielder wanted to play a high pass back to Sommer, aimed too high and from 45 metres scored an incredible own goal.

"Dortmund can thank me – I don't know if someone has ever scored an own goal like this before," the 23-year old said. Klopp admitted: "It seems we needed such a crazy goal tonight. If they had not scored the goal, I fear we would not either.

"We played extraordinary football,"  the BVB tactician added and the players echoed his words. "There was a lot of pressure given our situation in the league," said captain Sebastian Kehl. "A lot of tension disappeared when it was over."

Shinji Kagawa added: "Today, you could see just how difficult it is to win in the Bundesliga. We now have to gain stability, keep playing football and stick at it." European places are just seven points away, the UEFA Champions League ten, not even a third of the season has been played. If they keep playing like this and up their finishing - why not?