Reus returns; Batshuayi strikes; and Dortmund pick up their 500th home win
Marco Reus made a winning return to the Borussia Dortmund first-team after nine months on the sidelines, with Michy Batshuayi and Mario Götze scoring to give Die Schwarzgelben a 2-0 victory over Hamburg at the Signal Iduna Park.
Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Hamburg
Goals: 1-0 Batshuayi (49’), 2-0 Götze (90+2')
Reus was met with a rapturous applause by the home faithful after finally getting the better of the knee injury that has kept him out since last May, and Hamburg were reminded of the Germany forward’s menace early on when got free on the left-hand-side, though he pulled the trigger a fraction of a second too late and the chance fizzled out. Michy Batshuayi was slipped in for a one on one by Shinji Kagawa midway through the half, but the Chelsea-owned striker pulled his effort wide before the whistle went for offside anyway. BVB dominated possession but couldn’t make it tell in the opening 45 minutes and the sides went in for their half-time oranges with the deadlock intact.
The second half was just five minutes old Batshuayi resolved that particular predicament for BVB, though, sliding home from close range after Christian Pulisic’s low, drilled cross. Pulisic flashed an effort of his own over the bar soon after before Fiete Arp – on for Bobby Wood – fired wide at the other end. HSV piled forward for most of the last 20 minutes, but a lack of accuracy cost them dear with Götze putting a gloss on the scoreline late on.
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Match stats
- Reus played for the first time since Dortmund’s DFB Cup final win over Eintracht Frankfurt in May 2017 – 259 days ago.Batshuayi already has three goals in two games since his winter switch from Chelsea.Dortmund picked up their 500th home win in the Bundesliga.USMNT striker Wood appeared in his 50th Bundesliga game for Hamburg.Manuel Akanji was given his first start following his winter signing from Basel.A total of 362 goals have been scored in the 102 Bundesliga meetings between these sides to date, more than any other fixture in Bundesliga history.
Line-ups
Dortmund: Bürki – Piszczek, Akanji, Toprak, Toljan – Weigl, Kagawa (Dahoud 62'), Reus (c) (Götze 71') – Pulisic (Castro 85'), Batshuayi, Schürrle
Unused subs: Weidenfeller, Sahin, Isak, Sokratis
Absentees: Durm (ankle), Yarmolenko (tendon), Sancho (ankle), Guerreiro (muscular), Schmelzer (calf), Rode (pelvis), Philipp (knee)
Coach: Peter Stöger
Hamburg: Mathenia – Sakai (c), Mavraj, van Drongelen, Douglas – Walace, Ekdal (Hahn 71'), Jung – Kostic, Wood (Arp 54'), Hunt (Salihovic 54')
Unused subs: Pollersbeck, Ambrosius, Diekmeier, Janjicic
Absentees: Papadopoulos (suspended), Müller (knee), Holtby (ill)
Coach: Bernd Hollerbach
Watch: Reus delights in return
As it happened