Both sides were lively in the opening moments, particularly Hoffenheim, who tested Gregor Kobel early on through Wouter Burger.
But it wasn’t long before the hosts’ fortune began to improve, and Vladimir Coufal got his foot in as Serhou Guirassy was about to pull the trigger, before Oliver Baumann saved a low shot from Brandt.
The attacking action was severely muted after that, but fans were still treated to an opener before the break. Yan Couto was played on the overlap by Karim Adeyemi and picked out Brandt, who arrived to pass in from close range.
Intent on extending their advantage against one of the division’s top-scoring sides, Dortmund pushed on in the second half.
Daniel Svensson saw his back-post header kept out by Baumann, but the Germany number one was powerless to stop Nico Schlotterbeck from guiding in a brilliant finish from the edge of the area, even though he lost his footing in the process.
Schlotterbeck’s first Bundesliga goal since scoring against Hoffenheim in February 2024 appeared to take the wind out of the visitors’ sails, and Christian Ilzer quickly made substitutions to try to turn things around.
Instead, there could have easily been a third for Dortmund when Couto went on a mazy run and played in Guirassy, but the forward smashed against the bar to make it four Bundesliga matches without scoring.
Hoffenheim continued to be wasteful into stoppage time, ultimately slumping to defeat for the first time in seven league outings.
Dortmund have now lost just one of their last 21 Bundesliga matches, and this result against a side who have already beaten European-chasing sides such as Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig shows that they mean business this season.
Hoffenheim, meanwhile, remain level on points with the top four, and will next week host Hamburger , who are winless on the road this season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund)
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