Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (r.) and Marco Reus (l.) were in inspired form as Dortmund tore Gladbach apart at the Signal Iduna Park - © © gettyimages / Bongarts
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (r.) and Marco Reus (l.) were in inspired form as Dortmund tore Gladbach apart at the Signal Iduna Park - © © gettyimages / Bongarts

Sparkling Dortmund overwhelm Gladbach

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Dortmund – Borussia Dortmund gave new head coach Thomas Tuchel the perfect start to his reign by putting in a swashbuckling display to beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-0 at home on Saturday evening.

Man of the match

BVB began furiously and tore into the inexperienced Gladbach defence, squeezing them back towards their own goal right from the off. The pressure took its toll after just a quarter of an hour when Marco Reus rifled home, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan also got their names on the scoresheet after finishing superb team moves.

The match continued in the same vein after the break, with the hosts eager to put the result beyond any doubt. Their fourth goal was not long in coming and when Reus burst down the right and pulled back from the bye-line, Mkhitaryan made no mistake from ten yards out.

Most of the Dortmund team were candidates for this award but Aubameyang just shaded it ahead of Reus, Mkhitaryan and Shinji Kagawa. The Gabon international tormented the visiting defence throughout, varying his play by dropping deep, pulling wide and going long. His pace stretched the Foals’ backline and he was rewarded with a goal and an assist.

Talking point

Mkhitaryan has struggled to consistently fulfil his potential so far in Dortmund, but here he demonstrated the full depth of his repertoire. The Armenian’s elusive movement made him difficult to mark, while he seemingly ripped Gladbach open at will with his passing and vision. To top that off, he crowned a fine individual display with two well-taken goals.

Stats of the match

- 25 of Reus’ 55 competitive goals for BVB have been the all-important strike to put the side 1-0 up.

- Dortmund’s 19-year-old midfielder Julian Weigl, signed from 1860 Munich over the summer, made his Bundesliga debut in this match.

 - Gladbach keeper Yann Sommer made his 50th competitive appearance for the club here, and conceded more than three goals for the first time ever.

Line-ups and statistics