Axel Witsel restores his side's six-point lead over Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga

Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund narrowly beat RB Leipzig 1-0 on Saturday courtesy of Axel Witsel's first half winner, to protect their six point lead over champions Bayern Munich at the restart of the German top flight following the winter break.

Dortmund were missing in-form captain Marco Reus, who suffered a ligament injury in training on Friday.

But they still managed to win their leap in their last nine league matches, also thanks to Roman Buerki's string of fine saves.

Axel Witsel broke the deadlock in the 19th minute for the away side at the Red Bull Arena

The win restored Borussia Dortmund's six-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga table

Belgium international Witsel notched his second goal of the season in the 19th minute, firing in at the far post from a corner. His first had come back on August.

Leipzig were stronger after the break but Swiss keeper Buerki repeatedly came to the rescue, with two saves in the 75th minute and another good stop at Timo Werner shot two minutes later.

Dortmund supersub Paco Alcacer, who has 12 goals in this season, came close to scoring in the 90th minute but his effort bounced off the crossbar.

The Ruhr valley club, who take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League last month, are on 45 points, six ahead of second-place Bayern, who also made a winning start to the year with a 3-1 victory at Hoffenheim on Friday.

Borussia Moenchengladbach stayed on Bayern's heels in third, with a 1-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen that lifted them to 36 points. Leipzig are fourth on 31.

Belgium international Witsel notched his second goal of the season in the 19th minute