Dortmund stretch unbeaten streak
Dortmund - Under the watchful eye of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was amongst the Signal-Iduna-Park crowd as part of the DFL Foundation's 'Go Your Way' initiative, reigning champions Borussia Dortmund put on a real show with a 3-0 success against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Taking no prisoners
The visitors had their backs to the wall early on and never managed to relieve the pressure as BVB, starting their first game without Marco Reus, stretched their Bundesliga unbeaten streak to 31 matches, just five short of Hamburger SV's long-standing record. Mats Hummels headed home to open the scoring, before Jakub Blaszczykowski extended the lead just before half-time and Robert Lewandowski wrapped up a comfortable victory with his first league goal of the season late on.
It was all one-way traffic in the opening exchanges as Dortmund set the tone by dominating possession and forcing Leverkusen onto the back foot. However, Bernd Leno made a routine save from Marcel Schmelzer and Blaszczykowski sent a loose ball off target to ensure an early breakthrough was not forthcoming.
Eventually the game settled following its frantic start, though Borussia continued to look the more likely. Mario Götze's long-range effort was saved comfortably by Leno, but approaching the half-hour mark Dortmund finally took a deserved lead when Hummels was left completely unmarked at the back post to head home Schmelzer's corner.
'Kuba' doubles lead
With Leverkusen struggling to get out of their own half, BVB boss Jürgen Klopp urged his men forward and soon reaped the rewards. Lukasz Piszczek found space on the right to drill the ball across goal, where Blaszczykowski was on hand to sweep past a helpless Leno, sending the hosts in two goals to the good at half-time.
Dortmund set themselves up to keep things tighter at the back in the second period but never took their eyes off the target as Leverkusen began to take more risks. Blaszczykowski scuffed an effort wide from a poorly defended corner, while at the other end Lars Bender called Weidenfeller in action to no avail.
Dortmund in control
Still, Dortmund looked comfortable as Klopp introduced Reus to the fray and, with Bayer posing little or no threat, the titleholders were able to maintain an unerring dominance on proceedings.
Content to take the sting out of the game in the latter stages, BVB remained the only side who looked capable of adding to the scoreline. Philipp Wollscheid did well to block a long-range Blaszczykowski effort, while a neat combination between his fellow Poles Lewandowski and Piszczek failed to produce a third for Dortmund.
Lewandowski off the mark
However, minutes later the hosts did manage to cap their victory as Lewandowski got the all important flick to guide Reus' dangerous free-kick past Leno. The 23-year-old subsequently had another goal ruled out for offside late on, but it mattered little as Dortmund sealed one of the more straightforward victories of their 31-match unbeaten streak.
Line-ups and statistics
James Thorogood
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