The match was delayed for 15 minutes due to traffic congestion outside of the ground, and quickly the home fans were left yearning for the time they were stuck in a traffic jam, as their team crumbled in the face of a rapid start from Xabi Alonso’s men.
With just 25 seconds on the clock, Dortmund’s makeshift back-four were pressured into giving the ball away, and Nathan Tella made them pay by firing in an exquisite volley on the turn which rocketed past Gregor Kobel in the home goal.
With nine goals in his last five Bundesliga appearances, Patrik Schick was not waiting around to add to his tally, and he slid in at the back post to put the perfect finish to an incisive Piero Hincapié cross.
After a horror start to the game and with a squad decimated by injury and illness, BVB needed a response and found it through the in-form Jamie Gittens.
The Englishman pounced onto a deflected cross, and from a tight angle managed to delicately dink the ball over Lukas Hradecky to reduce the hosts’ arrears.
Far from being eternal, hope was time-restricted for Nuri Sahin’s team, as Schick again found space at the far post from a low cross to restore his side’s two-goal advantage.
The away side had their Finnish goalkeeper to thank for taking a two-goal lead into the second half, as he produced a remarkable save from a deflected Serhou Guirassy shot before denying Karim Adeyemi from the edge of the box.
After an explosive first half, large parts of the second period proved to be a tamer affair as Alonso’s team seemed comfortably on their way to making it nine wins in a row.
However, with just over 10 minutes to go, Edmond Tapsoba brought down Julien Duranville in the box, and Guirassy slotted home from the subsequent penalty.
As the sound of the Pet Shop Boys rang around Signal Iduna Park in the wake of the goal, the Yellow Wall found its voice and Dortmund believed once more.
It takes more than noise to get the better of Leverkusen though, and despite Dortmund pouring plenty of players forward, the German champions held on for another victory to become the first Bundesliga side this season to win six straight games.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen)