Borussia Dortmund headed into the first international break of the season at the top of the Bundesliga as Maximilian Beier's second-half strike earned a 1-0 win over Stuttgart. 

Freiburg, the only other team with a perfect record heading into MD4, drew 2-2 with Eintracht Frankfurt earlier in the day, leaving Dortmund out on their own on 12 points. 

Beier headed a glorious early chance well wide for Dortmund early on before Maximilian Mittelstadt sent a volley over Gregor Kobel's crossbar at the other end moments later. 

There were just two shots on target in the first half, both of which fell to Stuttgart. Ermedin Demirovic shot straight at Kobel after the hosts won back possession high up the pitch before Deniz Undav saw his poked attempt repelled by the Dortmund goalkeeper.

Ethan Nwaneri thought he had given Dortmund the lead seven minutes after the restart, but after finishing into the bottom-right corner, the offside flag on the far side was raised. 

Niko Kovac decided to throw Konstantinos Karetsas and Jobe Bellingham into the action in the 62nd minute, and the latter made an instant impact, with his teasing cross into the penalty area swept home by Beier. 

Bellingham then won back possession deep in his own half and went on a lung-busting run before laying off to Karetsas, but his shot just evaded Fabian Bredlow's near post. 

Stuttgart did, however, improve after going behind, with Kobel called into action twice in quick succession to deny Josha Vagnoman and Bilal El Khannouss, but Sebastian Hoeness' side were unable to find an equaliser. 

Rock-solid Dortmund lay down title statement 

Ahead of kick-off, Kovac insisted that his Dortmund team were more motivated than ever to enter the extended international break with four league wins from four, and his team were able to deliver, albeit against a difficult opposition. 

But they were able to get the job done, with Dortmund earning their sixth consecutive victory across all competitions this term, equalling their longest winning run under Kovac.

While they were clinical in attack, they were also solid at the back. Dortmund have now kept 18 clean sheets in 38 Bundesliga matches since the start of last season, more than any other team, while Kobel also registered his 50th shutout in the top flight for BVB on his 153rd appearance. 

Dortmund were happy to invite the pressure late on and look to land a sucker punch on the counter, but they had the better of the changes, too. They finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.34 from their 13 attempts to Stuttgart's tally of 0.87 from their 12 shots. 

Kovac's side are the early pace setters in the Bundesliga, and they can now enjoy a three-week break before their return to league action, when they welcome Werder Bremen to Signal Iduna Park on October 9.