Jadon Sancho inspires Borussia Dortmund to big win against top-four rivals Bayer Leverkusen

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Jadon Sancho scored one and assisted two as Borussia Dortmund cantered to victory over Bayer Leverkusen, moving above the beaten DFB Cup semi-finalists into third place in the standings as a result.

Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen

Goals: 1-0 Sancho (13'), 2-0 Reus (55'), 3-0 Philipp (63'), 4-0 Reus (79')

Dortmund made a furious start as the returning Mario Götze fired off an early warning shot that was deflected wide off a Leverkusen shirt. BVB's next big chance fell to Sancho, but the Englishman was unable to beat Ramazan Özcan one-on-one. When the 18-year-old was played in by Christian Pulisic moments later, however, he made no mistake, tucking into the bottom corner to bring up his first Bundesliga goal. Marco Reus had an effort ruled out for a VAR-assisted offside decision against Maximilian Philipp, before being thwarted from the penalty spot by Özcan after Panagiotis Retsos had upended Pulisic in the Bayer box.

Dortmund continued to attack with tremendous purpose after the restart, with Leverkusen substitute Kai Havertz clearing a scuffed effort from Götze off the line. Reus whipped an audacious effort onto the crossbar, but was soon celebrating the goal his performance deserved. Götze supplied the pass, with Reus ghosting past Özcan and tucking the ball into the empty net to give BVB daylight. A superb team move produced a third, Sancho showing a real touch of class to bring Manuel Akanji's raking long ball under wraps and crossing for Philipp to drive home from close range. Reus put the icing on the cake 11 minutes from normal time, heading home another assist from the unplayable Sancho.

Man of the Match

Leverkusen could not live with Sancho, who enjoyed the freedom of the Signal Iduna Park on only his fourth start since joining BVB from Manchester City last summer. England's FIFA 2018 World Cup wild card...?

Match stats

    Sancho is the second Englishmen to score in the Bundesliga this season after RB Leipzig’s Ademola Lookman, and only the second since Owen Hargreaves found the net for Bayern Munich on 5 August 2005.Reus scored his 60th and 61st goals in a Dortmund shirt - his 16th Bundesliga brace for the club.Philipp is BVB's top scorer among currently active players this season with eight goals.Dortmund are unbeaten in their last nine Bundesliga assignments at home (W6, D3).Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno missed his first Bundesliga game since the final day of the 2015/16 season.Özcan saved his first Bundesliga penalty on his third top-flight outing.

Line-ups

Dortmund: Bürki - Piszczek, Sokratis, Toprak, Akanji - Weigl - Pulisic (Dahoud 71'), Götze, Sancho - Reus (c) (Gomez 86') - Philipp (Toljan 81')
Unused subs: Weidenfeller, Sahin, Yarmolenko, Castro
Absentees: Zagadou (thigh), Rode (groin), Guerreiro (match fitness), Kagawa (ankle), Batshuayi (ankle), Schmelzer (dropped)
Coach: Peter Stöger

Leverkusen: Özcan - Henrichs, Tah (Jedvaj 43'), S. Bender, Retsos - Kohr, Aranguiz - Brandt, Volland (c), Bailey (Havertz 46') - Alario (Bellarabi 69')
Unused subs: Lomb, Baumgartlinger, Frey, Kiessling
Absentees: Leno (muscular), Wendell (ankle), L. Bender (suspended), Pohjanpalo (ankle)
Coach: Heiko Herrlich 

As it happened

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