Dortmund rout Wolfsburg to keep title race alive

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Borussia Dortmund kept the title race alive with a comprehensive 5-1 win over VfL Wolfsburg, which was also a club-record 14th home victory in a single Bundesliga season.

Borussia Dortmund 5-1 VfL Wolfsburg

Goals: 1-0 Kagawa (7'), 2-0 Ramos (9'), 3-0 Reus (59'), 4-0 Aubameyang (77'), 5-0 Aubameyang (78'), 5-1 Schürrle (86')

News of FC Bayern Munchen's early goal against Borussia Mönchengladbach filtering through to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK failed to put Dortmund off their stride against Wolfsburg, with Thomas Tuchel's men surging into a 2-0 lead inside the opening ten minutes.

Shinji Kagawa converted Henrikh Mkhitaryan's miscued volley to break the deadlock and then turned provider for Adrian Ramos, who sprang the offside trap and fired his ninth goal of the season past Diego Benaglio and into the near bottom corner. Daniel Caligiuri had a chance to reduce the arrears when he cut inside Marcel Schmelzer, but his left-footed shot came back off the crossbar. Most of the traffic was flowing in the other direction, though, and when Marco Reus got around Benaglio in the Wolves' box he looked favourite to score but his shot found the side-netting.

Where Jürgen Klopp's Dortmund were sometimes swashbuckling, Tuchel's have been more content to dominate possession, especially once going ahead. With over 60 percent of the ball in the second half, BVB dictated play, and pulled further clear when Reus steered home his 11th goal of the campaign after some penalty-box pinball. Tuchel gave Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a run out for the final 20 minutes, and the African Player of the Year wasted little time in making an impact. Crosses from Mkhitaryan and Schmelzer were each headed home in the space of a minute as the striker took his season tally to 25. Andre Schürrle scored a late consolation but Wolfsburg were powerless to stop Dortmund closing out their joint-biggest win of the season.

- © imago / 23789902

Man of the match

Kagawa. A game-high 91 fast runs helped the Japanese midfielder win the ball back in the final third, and his use of possession was second to none. Impossible to pick up in the space between midfield and attack, Kagawa's goal and assist here means that he has now had a hand in 16 goals this season.

Talking point

This 2015/16 Dortmund team may end up as the best side ever to have had to settle for second place. They made last season's runners up Wolfsburg look like also-rans, and their points haul of 77 would be sufficient to take them to the title in all but four of the 53 Bundesliga seasons to date. This season's title race is still alive - narrowly - with Bayern's eventual 1-1 draw with Gladbach leaving them five points better off with six points left to play for.

Match stats

    Dortmund remain the only team not to have been beaten at home this season. Their 14th win at the SIGNAL IDUNA PARK is a new single-season record for Die Schwarzgelben.Aubameyang scored his fifth brace this season.Kagawa has scored in five of the last seven games.Ramos has scored seven times in the last ten games.Dortmund's record of 77 points after 32 matchdays is their best-ever record in the Bundesliga.Wolfsburg have failed to win any of their previous seven games, winning only two of a possible 21 points in that time.Dortmund have now lost only one of their last eight home games against Wolfsburg - a 3-2 win for the Wolves back in December 2012.Schürrle's late goal was his first in 11 games against Dortmund.

- © gettyimages / Sascha Steinbach

Line-ups

Dortmund:Bürki - Piszczek (Durm 63'), Bender, Hummels (c), Schmelzer - Weigl (Sahin 69'), Castro - Mkhitaryan, Kagawa, Reus - Ramos (Aubameyang 69')

Coach: Thomas Tuchel

Wolfsburg:Benaglio (c) - Träsch (Vieirinha 80'), Naldo, Knoche, Schäfer - Guilavogui, Luiz Gustavo - Caligiuri, Arnold (Kruse 71'), Schürrle - Dost (Seguin 81')

Coach: Dieter Hecking