Borussia Dortmund is going into the Bundesliga summit against FC Bayern with a powerful tailwind. Two weeks before the title duel between the top Bundesliga teams, which could be decisive, following the international break, BVB took the lead in the table at least for a day thanks to a 6-1 (4-1) win against 1. FC Köln.
In front of 81,365 spectators in the sold-out Signal Iduna Park, the goalscorers Raphael Guerreiro (15th minute), Sébastien Haller (17th/69th), Marco Reus (32nd/70th) and Donyell Malen (36th) drove Dortmund’s frustration over that Champions League loss against Chelsea (0: 2) and the damper in the district derby against Schalke (2: 2). After the last ten league games without defeat with 28 out of a possible 30 points, coach Edin Terzic’s team seems to be prepared for the game on April 1 in Munich.
On the other hand, the negative trend in Cologne continues despite the goal by Davie Selke (42nd). The poor record of just one point from the past five games raises concerns about an impending fall into the relegation zone.
Despite the absences of Gregor Kobel, Salih Özcan, Julian Brandt, Karim Adeyemi and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Emre Can’s suspension, BVB tried to control the game from the start. The committed start with a lot of speed and playfulness paid off early on. The first chance on goal gave the hosts the lead when Malen served his team-mate Guerreiro in an exemplary manner. The Portuguese, who was again ordered to midfield due to the lack of personnel and had already met Schalke 2-2 in the derby on the previous day, made it 1-0 with a shot from close range into the far corner.
Just two minutes later BVB had reason to celebrate again. The fact that Haller, who suffered from cancer last summer, ended his goal drought that had lasted since the beginning of February, was celebrated particularly loudly in the stands. The goalscorer refined the worthwhile preparatory work by Reus and Guerreiro and executed ice-coldly from 14 meters.
FC were also close to a goal when BVB keeper Alexander Meyer deflected a shot from Sargis Adamyan (21st) to the post, but mostly just ran after it. In Dortmund’s offensive vortex, the overview was lost more and more. More goals from Reus and Malen rounded off Borussia’s splendid first half. The only blemish was the goal scored by Selke, where the BVB defense was punished for being careless. It was Cologne’s first goal after four goalless games.
In view of the clear lead, Dortmund took it easy after the restart. They kept Cologne away from their own goal with a lot of ball possession, but initially hardly created any chances. A free-kick from Mahmoud Dahoud on the crossbar, which Haller pushed over the line in a follow-up shot and thus scored his first brace in a BVB jersey, removed the last doubts about the well-deserved success. Reus rounded off Borussia’s strong performance with his second goal. The captain scored his 160th competitive goal for BVB, surpassing Michael Zorc and is now the Revierclub’s sole record goal scorer in professional football.
