Borussia Dortmund stay on top of the Bundesliga with an impressive 3-0 road win over HSV. Here’s our short recap.
As Dortmund arrived in Hamburg, heads were high after a comfortable 5-0 victory over Cologne. The question on the media’s mind, however, was “Can Borussia Dortmund keep another clean sheet in a historically high scoring fixture?” The answer, of course, was yes.
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Manager Peter Bosz only made two changes to the lineup, adding Shinji Kagawa and Christian Pulisic in place of Mahmoud Dahoud and Maximilian Philipp, who both made the bench. As the match kicked off, Dortmund actually looked slightly rattled while trying to cope with Hamburg’s pressure. The first 20 minutes featured frantic end to end plays with no true challenges on goal at the end. Then a corner in the 24’ arrived. Toprak headed it goalward, only to be heroically (and unintentionally) blocked by Shinji Kagawa, who then managed to tap it past to put Dortmund on the scoresheet.
As the match kicked off, Dortmund actually looked slightly rattled while trying to cope with Hamburg’s pressure. The first 20 minutes featured frantic end to end plays with little action in front of goal, however.
After 23 minutes, Andrey Yarmolenko sent a free-kick from close to the goal line into the box. Toprak headed it goalward, only to be heroically (and unintentionally) blocked by Shinji Kagawa, who then managed to smash it into the roof of the net to past to put Dortmund on the scoresheet.
The rest of the half played out with obnoxious fouls from Hamburg as Dortmund started to get into their winning groove. Especially Yarmolenko dazzled in the first half, managing to dribble out of what seemed to be three or four defenders. The Ukrainian clearly frustrated the opposition, as he drew blatant fouls from Gotoku Sakai and Lewis Holtby.
Mixed-Zone: Dortmund defeat Hamburg 3-0, stay top of the table
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As the second half began, the Ruhr side remained confident and in possession. Aubameyang managed to convert a tap-in to make it 2-0. In the 79th minute, Pulisic broke through with an excellent assist from Dahoud. The Pulisic goal, after an extended and unnecessary VAR break, put the nail in the coffin for Hamburg.
The result stood at 3-0 and Borussia Dortmund remain on top of the table after five weeks in, yet to concede a goal.
Yellow Wall Game Ball: This week’s Yellow Wall Game Ball goes to Andrey Yarmolenko.
The Ukrainian star has impressed in previous weeks but really stood out this week. Despite only being on for 67 minutes, when Yarmolenko was on the ball, he was nearly impossible to handle. With his recent performances, Dortmund fans may be saying “Dembele Who?”
This Saturday, Borussia Dortmund host Borussia Monchengladbach in what should be a thrilling contest. A key point will be to see how Peter Bosz handles the lineup knowing the players are on short rest to begin with and have Real Madrid in front of them next Tuesday. Will we see more of Jacob Bruun Larsen, who made his debut against Hamburg?
