Lewandowski top of the charts as Dortmund thrash Hertha
Berlin - Robert Lewandowski finished top of the 2013/14 Bundesliga scoring chart after helping Borussia Dortmund to a 4-0 victory away to Hertha Berlin.
Lewandowski strikes
Lewandowski struck in either half to take his season tally to 20 goals, while efforts from Milos Jojic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan completed the triumph.
With both Hertha and Dortmund bidding Bundesliga farewells to their leading marksmen – Adrian Ramos and Lewandowski respectively - and little but pride at stake for either club, the match was a slow-burner to begin with, and there was a noticeable lack of drive in the early stages. The visitors enjoyed more of the ball and did occasionally string together some decent moves, but they were unable to get beyond their hosts’ backline.
The match continued in the same vein until shortly before half time, when Dortmund suddenly shifted up through the gears and overpowered Hertha. Mats Hummels was allowed to approach the Hertha area unchallenged and his clever through ball found Lewandowski, who turned and slotted home for his 19th Bundesliga goal of the campaign to make him the league’s outright leading scorer this term.
Jojic on target
Hertha were shocked and soon fell further behind as Jojic scampered down the right wing and into the box before cutting inside his marker and sweeping a curling left-footed effort into the net. Hertha had no reply to the late flurry as Dortmund gradually got into their rhythm ahead of next week’s DFB Cup final against FC Bayern München at the same venue.
Indeed, with that chance of silverware in mind, Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp changed his line-up in the second period, taking off Nuri Sahin and Hummels to avoid injuries to his key players. That disrupted the visitors’ flow and with the lead secure, BVB went into energy conservation mode and ceased to move forward with any sense of purpose. That seemed to suit Hertha, who were disjointed and had no attacking threat whatsoever.
Another quickfire double
The Dortmund faithful were left holding their breath as Marco Reus limped off clutching his leg, but there was more action to come as Lewandowski made sure he finished top of the scorers’ chart by curling a free-kick over the wall and past a wrong-footed Thomas Kraft. The Polish forward almost bowed out with a hat-trick but failed to beat the custodian when clean through on goal.
However, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang collected the rebound and his speculative effort across the box was finished off by Mkhitaryan to give the visitors victory by a somewhat flattering scoreline prior to their return to the Olymipastadion next Saturday.
Line-ups and statistics
Robert Lewandowski wanted to make sure he'd win the Torjägerkanone and dispatched this great free-kick, brought to you by the official Bundesliga YouTube channel:
